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contract
used in The Poisonwood Bible

3 meanings, 11 uses
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1  —1 use as in:
legal contract
Definition
an agreement - typically written and enforceable by law
  • My contract expires in June. ... We will stay through July to help welcome the Reverend and Mrs. Minor when they
    come.
    Book 2 — Revelation (84% in)
contract = formal agreement
There are no more uses of "contract" flagged with this meaning in The Poisonwood Bible.

Typical Usage  (best examples)
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2  —1 use as in:
contract the disease
Definition
to get — especially in reference to a disease
  • We had to sit so close to other people there wasn't room to breathe, if you even wanted to, being in the position to contract every kind of a germ there was.
    Book 1 — Genesis (22% in)
contract = to get (of a disease)
There are no more uses of "contract" flagged with this meaning in The Poisonwood Bible.

Typical Usage  (best examples)
Dictionary / pronunciation — Google®Dictionary list — Onelook.com®
3  —3 uses as in:
the metal contracted
Definition
when something gets shorter or smaller
  • We were still ten kilometers from the village when my chronic backache spread to a deep, rock-hard contraction across my lower belly, and I understood with horror that I was in labor.
    Book 5 — Exodus (92% in)
contraction = tightening (shrinking) of muscles

(editor's note:  The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.)
Other Uses (with this meaning)
  • There was something I needed to explain to Anatole, but I couldn't be bothered with it at the peak of a contraction.
    Book 5 — Exodus (93% in)
  • The contraction subsided.
    Book 5 — Exodus (93% in)

There are no more uses of "contract" flagged with this meaning in The Poisonwood Bible.

Typical Usage  (best examples)
Dictionary / pronunciation — Google®Dictionary list — Onelook.com®
?  —6 uses
exact meaning not specified
  • I have had very bad female problems on account of an infection I contracted from Eeben Axelroot.
    Book 6 — Song of the Children (17% in)
  • Chained to the porch by Mother's instructions, like grumpy twin bears in captivity, we enviously watched Nelson as he went about his business, free to go back and forth to the village and contract the kakakaka any time he had a mind to.
    Book 2 — Revelation (66% in)
  • The Minors have declined their contract, on our advice.
    Book 2 — Revelation (85% in)
  • Our Father tries to make them understand the batiza is no fetish but a contract with Jesus Christ.
    Book 3 — Judges (88% in)
  • I could not accept the contract: that every child born human upon this earth comes with a guarantee of perfect health and old age clutched in its small fist.
    Book 6 — Song of the Children (69% in)
  • She still suffers from the effects of several diseases she contracted in the Congo, including schistosomiasis, Guinea worms, and probably tuberculosis.
    Book 6 — Song of the Children (89% in)

There are no more uses of "contract" in The Poisonwood Bible.

Typical Usage  (best examples)
Dictionary / pronunciation — Google®Dictionary list — Onelook.com®