contraction

Other forms of contraction

plural

contractions·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about contraction

What does contraction mean?

contraction means "(physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in contraction?

contraction has 3 syllables: con-trac-tion. The stress falls on "trac". In IPA it is /kənˈtɹækʃən/.

What is another word for contraction?

Close synonyms include muscular contraction, muscle contraction, compression, condensation. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of contraction?

The recorded antonyms are expansion.

Is contraction a common word?

contraction is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with contraction?

4 words rhyme with contraction. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.