资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Contract \Con*tract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Contracted}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Contracting}.] [L. contractus, p. p. of contrahere
   to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf. F. contracter. See
   {Trace}, and cf. {Contract}, n.]
   1. To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass;
      to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's
      sphere of action.

            In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our
            faculties.                            --Dr. H. More.

   2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.

            Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. --Shak.

   3. To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a
      habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.

            Each from each contract new strength and light.
                                                  --Pope.

            Such behavior we contract by having much conversed
            with persons of high station.         --Swift.

   4. To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain
      or covenant for.

            We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and
            lague with the aforesaid queen.       --Hakluyt.

            Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within
            the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by
            law.                                  --Strype.

   5. To betroth; to affiance.

            The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are
            now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. --Shak.

   6. (Gram.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by
      reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

   Syn: To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen;
        condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume.

资料来源 : WordNet®

contracting
     n : becoming infected; "catching cold is sometimes unavoidable";
         "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially
         catastrophic" [syn: {catching}]