Contract system Con"tract sys"tem 1. The sweating system. 2. The system of employing convicts by selling their labor (to be performed inside the prison) at a fixed price per day to contractors who are allowed to have agents in the prison to superintend the work.
Contract tablet Con"tract tablet (Babylonian & Assyrian Antiq.) A clay tablet on which was inscribed a contract, for safe keeping. Such tablets were inclosed in an outer case (often called the envelope ), on which was inscribed a duplicate of the inscription on the inclosed tablet.
Contracted Con·tract"ed (kŏn*trăkt"ĕd)
adjective 1. Drawn together; shrunken; wrinkled; narrow; as, a contracted brow; a contracted noun. 2. Narrow; illiberal; selfish; as, a contracted mind; contracted views. 3. Bargained for; betrothed; as, a contracted peace. Inquire me out contracted bachelors.
Shak.
Contractedness Con·tract"ed·ness noun The state of being contracted; narrowness; meanness; selfishness.
Contractibility Con·tract`i·bil"i·ty noun Capability of being contracted; quality of being contractible; as, the contractibility and dilatability of air. Arbuthnot.
Contractible Con·tract"i·ble adjective Capable of contraction. Small air bladders distable and contractible .
Arbuthnot.
Contractibleness Con·tract"i·ble·ness noun Contractibility.
Contractile Con·tract"ile adjective [ Confer French
contractile .]
tending to contract; having the power or property of contracting, or of shrinking into shorter or smaller dimensions; as, the contractile tissues. The heart's contractile force.
H. Brooke.
Each cilium seems to be composed of contractile substance.
Hixley.
Contractile vacuole (Zoology) ,
a pulsating cavity in the interior of a protozoan, supposed to be excretory in function. There may be one, two, or more.
Contractility Con`trac·til"i·ty noun 1. The quality or property by which bodies shrink or contract. 2. (Physiol.) The power possessed by the fibers of living muscle of contracting or shortening. » When subject to the will, as in the muscles of locomotion, such power is called
voluntary contractility ; when not controlled by the will, as in the muscles of the heart, it is
involuntary contractility .
Contraction Con·trac"tion noun [ Latin
contractio : confer French
contraction .]
1. The act or process of contracting, shortening, or shrinking; the state of being contracted; as, contraction of the heart, of the pupil of the eye, or of a tendon; the contraction produced by cold. 2. (Math.) The process of shortening an operation. 3. The act of incurring or becoming subject to, as liabilities, obligation, debts, etc.; the process of becoming subject to; as, the contraction of a disease. 4. Something contracted or abbreviated, as a word or phrase; -- as, plenipo for plenipotentiary ; crim. con. for criminal conversation , etc. 5. (Gram.) The shortening of a word, or of two words, by the omission of a letter or letters, or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one; as, ne'er for never ; can't for can not ; don't for do not ; it's for it is . 6. A marriage contract. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Contractive Con·tract"ive adjective Tending to contract; having the property or power or power of contracting.
Contractor Con·tract"or noun [ Latin ]
One who contracts; one of the parties to a bargain; one who covenants to do anything for another; specifically, one who contracts to perform work on a rather large scale, at a certain price or rate, as in building houses or making a railroad.
Contracture Con·trac"ture noun [ Latin
contractura a drawing together.]
(Medicine) A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles.
Contradance Con"tra·dance` noun [ Prefix
contra- +
dance : confer French
contrdance . Confer
Country-dance .]
A dance in which the partners are arranged face to face, or in opposite lines.
Contradict Con`tra·dict" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Contradicted ;
present participle & verbal noun Contradicting .] [ Latin
contradictus , past participle of
contradicere to speak against;
contra +
dicere to speak. See
Diction .]
1. To assert the contrary of; to oppose in words; to take issue with; to gainsay; to deny the truth of, as of a statement or a speaker; to impugn. Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself,
And say it is not so.
Shak.
The future can not contradict the past.
Wordsworth.
2. To be contrary to; to oppose; to resist. [ Obsolete]
No truth can contradict another truth.
Hooker.
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents.
Shak.
Contradict Con`tra·dict intransitive verb To oppose in words; to gainsay; to deny, or assert the contrary of, something. They . . . spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Acts xiii. 45.
Contradictable Con`tra·dict"a·ble adjective Capable of being contradicted.
Contradicter Con`tra·dict"er noun one who contradicts. Swift.
Contradiction Con`tra·dic"tion noun [ Latin
contradictio answer, objection: confer French
contradiction .]
1. An assertion of the contrary to what has been said or affirmed; denial of the truth of a statement or assertion; contrary declaration; gainsaying. His fair demands
Shall be accomplished without contradiction .
Shak.
2. Direct opposition or repugnancy; inconsistency; incongruity or contrariety; one who, or that which, is inconsistent. can he make deathless death? That were to make
Strange contradiction .
Milton.
We state our experience and then we come to a manly resolution of acting in contradiction to it.
Burke.
Both parts of a contradiction can not possibly be true.
Hobbes.
Of contradictions infinite the slave.
Wordsworth.
Principle of contradiction (Logic) ,
the axiom or law of thought that a thing cannot be and not be at the same time, or a thing must either be or not be, or the same attribute can not at the same time be affirmed and and denied of the same subject. It develops itself in three specific forms which have been called the "Three Logical Axioms."
First , "A is A."
Second , "A is not Not-A"
Third , "Everything is either A or Not-A."
Contradictional Con`tra·dic"tion·al adjective Contradictory; inconsistent; opposing. [ R.]
Milton.
Contradictious Con`tra·dic"tious adjective 1. Filled with contradictions; inconsistent. [ Obsolete]
2. Inclined to contradict or cavil [ Obsolete]
Sharp. --
Con`tra*dic"tious*ness ,
noun Norris.
Contradictive Con`tra·dict"ive adjective Contradictory; inconsistent. --
Con`tra*dict"ive*ly ,
adverb
Contradictor Con`tra·dict"or noun [ Latin ]
A contradicter.
Contradictorily Con`tra·dict"o·ri·ly adverb In a contradictory manner. Sharp.
Contradictoriness Con"tra·dict`o·ri·ness noun The quality of being contradictory; opposition; inconsistency. J. Whitaker.
Contradictory Con`tra·dict"o·ry adjective [ Late Latin
contradictorius : confer French
contradictoire .]
1. Affirming the contrary; implying a denial of what has been asserted; also, mutually contradicting; inconsistent. "
Contradictory assertions."
South. 2. Opposing or opposed; repugnant. Schemes . . . contradictory to common sense.
Addisn.
Contradictory Con`tra·dict"o·ry noun ;
plural Contradictories 1. A proposition or thing which denies or opposes another; contrariety. It is common with princes to will contradictories .
Bacon.
2. plural (Logic) propositions with the same terms, but opposed to each other both in quality and quantity.
Contradistinct Con`tra·dis·tinct" adjective Distinguished by opposite qualities. J. Goodwin.
Contradistinction Con`tra·dis·tinc"tion noun Distinction by contrast. That there are such things as sins of infirmity in contradistinction to those of presumption is not to be questioned.
South.
Contradistinctive Con`tra·dis·tinc"tive adjective having the quality of contradistinction; distinguishing by contrast. --
Con`tra*dis*tinc"tive ,
noun
Contradistinguish Con`tra·dis·tin"guish transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Contradistinguished ;
present participle & verbal noun Contradistinguishing .]
To distinguish by a contrast of opposite qualities. These are our complex ideas of soul and body, as contradistinguished .
Locke.
Contrafagetto Con`tra·fa·get"to noun [ Italian ]
(Mus.) The double bassoon, an octave deeper than the bassoon.
Contrafissure Con`tra·fis"sure noun (Medicine) A fissure or fracture on the side opposite to that which received the blow, or at some distance from it. Coxe.
Contrahent Con"tra·hent adjective [ Latin
contrahens , present participle See
Contract .]
Entering into covenant; contracting; as, contrahent parties. [ Obsolete]
Mede.
Contraindicant Con"tra·in"di·cant noun (Medicine) Something, as a symptom, indicating that the usual mode of treatment is not to be followed. Burke.
Contraindicate Con"tra·in·"di·cate transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Contraindicated ;
present participle & verbal noun Contraindicating .]
(Medicine) To indicate, as by a symptom, some method of treatment contrary to that which the general tenor of the case would seem to require. Contraindicating symptoms must be observed.
Harvey.
Contraindication Con"tra·in`di·ca"tion noun (med.) An indication or symptom which forbids the method of treatment usual in such cases.
Contralto Con·tral"to noun [ Italian , from
contra +
alto . See
Alto .]
(Mus.) (a) The part sung by the highest male or lowest female voices; the alto or counter tenor. (b) the voice or singer performing this part; as, her voice is a contralto ; she is a contralto . » The usual range of the contralto voice is from G, below middle C, to the C above that; though exceptionally it embraces two octaves.
Contralto Con·tral"to adjective (Mus.) Of or pertaining to a contralto, or to the part in music called contralto; as, a contralto voice.
Contramure Con"tra·mure noun [ Confer
Countermure .]
(fort.) An outer wall. [ Obsolete]
Chambers.
Contranatural Con"tra·nat"u·ral adjective [ Confer
Counternatural .]
Opposed to or against nature; unnatural. [ R.]
Bp. Rust.
Contraplex Con"tra·plex adjective [
Contra- +
-plex as in du
plex .]
(Teleg.) Pertaining to the sending of two messages in opposite directions at the same time.
Contraposition Con"tra·po·si"tion noun [ Prefix
contra- +
position : confer f.
conterposition .]
1. A placing over against; opposite position. [ Obsolete]
F. Potter. 2. (Logic) A so-called immediate inference which consists in denying the original subject of the contradictory predicate; e.g. : Every S is P; therefore, no Not-P is S.
Contraption Con·trap"tion noun A contrivance; a new-fangled device; -- used scornfully. [ Colloq. or Dial.] --
Con*trap"tious adjective We all remember some of the extraordinary contraptions which have been thus evolved and put upon the market.
F. M. Ware.
Contrapuntal Con`tra·pun"tal adjective [ Italian
contrappunto counterpoint. See
Counterpoint .]
(Mus.) Pertaining to, or according to the rules of, counterpoint.
Contrapuntist Con`tra·pun"tist noun [ Italian
contrappuntista .]
(Mus.) One skilled in counterpoint. Latin Mason.
Contraremonstrant Con"tra·re·mon"strant noun One who remonstrates in opposition or answer to a remonstrant. [ R.]
They did the synod wrong to make this distinction of contraremonstrants and remonstrants.
Hales.
Contrariant Con·tra"ri·ant adjective [ Late Latin
contrarians , present participle of
contrariare to oppose, from Latin
contrarius : confer French
contrariant , present participle of
contrarier to contradict. See
Contrary .]
Contrary; opposed; antagonistic; inconsistent; contradictory. [ R.]
The struggles of contrariant factions.
Coleridge.
Contrariantly Con·tra"ri·ant·ly adverb Contrarily. [ Obsolete]
Contraries Con"tra·ries noun plural [ Pl. of
Contrary ,
noun ]
(Logic) Propositions which directly and destructively contradict each other, but of which the falsehood of one does not establish the truth of the other. If two universals differ in quality, they are contraries ; as, every vine is a tree; no vine is a tree. These can never be both true together; but they may be both false.
I. Watts.
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