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WordNet-Online
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Noun contraction has 4 senses
- contraction, muscular contraction, muscle contraction - (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)
--1 is a kind of shortening
--1 has particulars:
- compression, condensation, contraction - the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling"
--2 is a kind of shrinking, shrinkage
--2 has particulars: constriction, coarctation
- contraction - a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds; "`won't' is a contraction of `will not'"; "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'"
--3 is a kind of word
- contraction - the act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope
--4 is a kind of decrease, diminution, reduction, step-down
Antonyms: expansion, enlargement
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