n. The act of drawing together or shrinking; the condition of becoming smaller in extent or dimensions through the nearer approach to one another of the parts; the state of being contracted; a decrease in volume, bulk, or dimensions, as from loss of heat.n. The act of making short, of abridging, or of reducing within a narrower compass by any means; the act of lessening or making smaller in amount; the state of being so lessened; reduction; diminution; abridgment: as, a contraction of the currency.n. Specifically A shortening of a word in pronunciation or in writing: as, can't is a contraction of cannot.n. In ancient prosody, the use of a single long time or syllable in place of two short times.n. The act of making a contract; the state of being under a contract, especially one of marriage.n. In surgery, an abnormal and permanent alteration in the relative position and forms of parts, arising from various causes, as in ankylosis, distortion, clubfoot, wryneck, etc.n. In mathematics, any device for abridging the mechanical labor of making calculations by diminishing the number of characters written down.n. The act or process of contracting or acquiring: as, the contraction of a debt.