different between stretch vs contract
stretch
English
Etymology
From Middle English strecchen, from Old English stre??an (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /st??t?/
- Rhymes: -?t?
Verb
stretch (third-person singular simple present stretches, present participle stretching, simple past and past participle stretched or (obsolete) straught or (obsolete) straight)
- (transitive) To lengthen by pulling.
- (intransitive) To lengthen when pulled.
- 1660, Robert Boyle, New Experiments Physico-Mechanical: Touching the Spring of the Air and their Effects
- The inner membrane […] because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken.
- 1660, Robert Boyle, New Experiments Physico-Mechanical: Touching the Spring of the Air and their Effects
- (transitive) To pull tight.
- (figuratively, transitive) To get more use than expected from a limited resource.
- (figuratively, transitive) To make inaccurate by exaggeration.
- (intransitive) To extend physically, especially from limit point to limit point.
- (intransitive, transitive) To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles
- (intransitive) To extend to a limit point
- (transitive) To increase.
- (obsolete, colloquial) To stretch the truth; to exaggerate.
- (nautical) To sail by the wind under press of canvas.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Ham. Nav. Encyc to this entry?)
- (slang, transitive, archaic) To execute by hanging.
- To make great demands on the capacity or resources of something.
Translations
See also
- pandiculate
Noun
stretch (plural stretches)
- An act of stretching.
- The ability to lengthen when pulled.
- A course of thought which diverts from straightforward logic, or requires extraordinary belief or exaggeration.
- A segment of a journey or route.
- A segment or length of material.
- (Britain, slang, archaic) A walk.
- Evelyn Underhill, quoted in 2010, Evelyn Underhill, ?Carol Poston, The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill (page 81)
- In the afternoon I went for a stretch into the country, & about 4 it cleared up pretty well, so I hurried back & we got a cart & drove to Bassano, a little town about 8 miles off, that we wanted to see.
- Evelyn Underhill, quoted in 2010, Evelyn Underhill, ?Carol Poston, The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill (page 81)
- (baseball) A quick pitching delivery used when runners are on base where the pitcher slides his leg instead of lifting it.
- (baseball) A long reach in the direction of the ball with a foot remaining on the base by a first baseman in order to catch the ball sooner.
- (informal) Term of address for a tall person.
- (horse racing) The homestretch, the final straight section of the track leading to the finish.
- A length of time.
- After the harvest there was a stretch of clear dry weather, and the animals toiled harder than ever […]
- (Ireland) Extended daylight hours, especially said of the evening in springtime when compared to the shorter winter days.
- (sports) The period of the season between the trade deadline and the beginning of the playoffs.
- (slang) A jail or prison term.
- Synonym: stint
- (slang) A jail or prison term of one year's duration.
- A single uninterrupted sitting; a turn.
- A stretch limousine.
Translations
Derived terms
Descendants
- Esperanto: stre?i
Further reading
- stretch at OneLook Dictionary Search
References
- (a walk): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary
Anagrams
- strecht
stretch From the web:
- what stretches to do
- what stretches make you taller
- what stretching does to your body
- what stretches to do before running
- what stretches to do before working out
- what stretches are good for sciatica
- what stretches to do for lower back pain
- what stretches to do everyday
contract
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: k?n'tr?kt
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?k?nt?ækt/
- (US) IPA(key): /?k?nt?ækt/
Noun
contract (plural contracts)
- An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
- Synonyms: compact, pact
- (law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
- (law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
- (informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.
- (bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.
Synonyms
- (part of legal studies): contract law
Hypernyms
- (agreement that is legally binding): agreement
Hyponyms
- (agreement that is legally binding): bailment
Derived terms
- contract of employment
- contractual
- fixed-term contract
Translations
Adjective
contract (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
- (obsolete) Not abstract; concrete.
Etymology 2
From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.
Pronunciation
- enPR: k?ntr?kt, IPA(key): /k?n?t?ækt/
Verb
contract (third-person singular simple present contracts, present participle contracting, simple past and past participle contracted)
- (transitive, intransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
- The snail's body contracted into its shell.
- to contract one's sphere of action
- 1835, William Wordsworth, The Armenian Lady's Love
- Years contracting to a moment.
- 1675, Richard Allestree, The Government of the Tongue
- We see in all things how desuetude do's contract and narrow our faculties.
- (grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
- The word "cannot" is often contracted into "can't".
- (transitive) To enter into a contract with. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (transitive) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
- We have contracted an inviolable amitie, peace, and league with the aforesaid Queene.
- 1721, John Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials
- Many persons […] had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity […] prohibited by law.
- (intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.
- to contract for carrying the mail
- (transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.
- She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.
- to contract a debt
- 1717, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Mr. Jervas
- Each from each contract new strength and light.
- c. 1703-1720, Jonathan Swift, An Essay on the Fates of Clergymen
- That kind of behaviour, which we contract by having too much conversation with persons of high station.
- (transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
- 1999, Davidson C. Umeh, Protect Your Life: A Health Handbook for Law Enforcement Professionals, page 69:
- An officer contracted hepatitis B and died after handling the blood-soaked clothing of a homicide victim […]
- 1999, Davidson C. Umeh, Protect Your Life: A Health Handbook for Law Enforcement Professionals, page 69:
- To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
- To betroth; to affiance.
Synonyms
- (lessen): abate, decrease, lessen, reduce
- (shorten): shorten, shrink
- (gain or acquire (an illness)): catch, get
Antonyms
- (lessen): increase, expand
- (shorten): grow, lengthen
Translations
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch contract, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrah? (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /k?n?tr?kt/
- Hyphenation: con?tract
- Rhymes: -?kt
Noun
contract n (plural contracten, diminutive contractje n)
- contract
Synonyms
- overeenkomst
Derived terms
- arbeidscontract
- contractarbeider
- contractbreuk
- handelscontract
- huurcontract
- koopcontract
Related terms
- contracteren
- contractueel
Descendants
- Afrikaans: kontrak
- ? Indonesian: kontrak
- ? West Frisian: kontrakt
Romanian
Etymology
From French contrat, from Latin contractus.
Noun
contract n (plural contracte)
- contract
Declension
Scots
Etymology
From English contract.
Noun
contract (plural contracts)
- contract
Welsh
Etymology
From English contract.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?k?ntrakt/
Noun
contract m (plural contractau)
- contract
- Synonym: cytundeb
Mutation
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “contract”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
contract From the web:
- what contractions feel like
- what contracts must be in writing
- what contracts during labor
- what contractions look like
- what contracts must be in writing to be enforceable
- what contracts have to be in writing
- what contractor is building the wall
- what contracts during systole
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