contraction

n. act of contracting; spasm; shortening, shrinking; shortened form of a word or phrase that contains an apostrophe in place of missing letters (i.e. she's); strong and usually painful movement of the muscles in the womb that helps to push the baby out of the mother's body during the process of birth

Contraction may refer to:Contraction (childbirth), a contraction during childbirthContraction (grammar), a new word formed from two or more individual words, see also abbreviation and acronymBraille contraction, used to decrease space and increase reading speedEconomic contraction, a reversal of economic growth; the opposite of economic expansion.The reverse of thermal expansionContraction mapping, in mathematics, a type of function on a metric spaceEdge contraction or vertex contraction, graph operations used in graph theoryMuscle contraction, one that occurs when a muscle fiber lengthens or shortensTensor contraction in tensor theory (in mathematics)Synaeresis, the contraction of two vowels into a diphthongContraction, a stage in Wound healingA structural rule in proof theory, see idempotency of entailment
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Contraction /con·trac·tion/ a drawing together; a shortening or shrinkage. Braxton Hicks contractions light, usually painless, irregular uterine [more]Contraction - Community and Resources

Noun
1. (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)
(synonym) muscular contraction, muscle contraction
(hypernym) shortening
(hyponym) contracture
(derivation) compress, constrict, squeeze, compact, contract, press
(classification) physiology
2. the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling"
(synonym) compression, condensation
(hypernym) shrinking, shrinkage
(hyponym) constriction, coarctation
3. 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'"
(hypernym) word
4. the act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope
(antonym) expansion, enlargement
(hypernym) decrease, diminution, reduction, step-down
(derivation) contract

n. contraction; stiffness, tightening, shrinking