1. (

• contract ,
• undertake ,

) enter into a contractual arrangement ;

2. (

• sign ,
• contract ,
• sign_on ,
• sign_up

) engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season" ;

3. (

• compress ,
• constrict ,
• squeeze ,
• compact ,
• contract ,
• press ,

) squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the spasm contracted the muscle" ;

4. (

• contract ,
• take ,
• get

) be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness; "He got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a chill" ;

5. (

• shrink ,
• contract ,

) become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The balloon shrank" ;

6. (

• contract

) make smaller; "The heat contracted the woollen garment" ;

7. (

• condense ,
• concentrate ,
• contract ,

) compress or concentrate; "Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan" ;

8. (

• narrow ,
• contract

) make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed" ;

9. (

• abridge ,
• foreshorten ,
• abbreviate ,
• shorten ,
• cut ,
• contract ,
• reduce ,

) reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" ;

1. (

• contracted

) reduced in size or pulled together; "the contracted pupils of her eyes" ;