26984 words

contract

19 definitions • 36 examples
1
a legal document that states and explains a formal agreement between two different people or groups, or the agreement itself:

Examples:

a contract of employment
a temporary/building contract
break (the terms of) a contract They could take legal action against you if you break (the terms of) the contract.
draw up a contract My solicitor is drawing up (= writing) a contract.
sign/enter into a contract Don't sign/enter into any contract before examining its conditions carefully.
[ + to infinitive ] They're the firm of architects who won the contract to design the Museum of Fine Art extension.
2
to have formally agreed to work for a company or person on a stated job for a stated period of time:

Examples:

They used independent miners who worked under contract with the mining companies.
3
to make or become shorter or narrower or generally smaller in size:

Examples:

contract to In spoken English, "do not" often contracts to "don't".
As it cooled, the metal contracted.
4

Examples:

5
to catch or become ill with a disease:

Examples:

He contracted malaria while he was travelling.
6
to make a legal agreement with someone to do work or to have work done for you:

Examples:

[ + to infinitive ] Our company was contracted to build shelters for the homeless.
7
a legal document that states and explains a formal agreement between two different people or groups, or the agreement itself:

Examples:

She already has a contract for her next book with a publisher.
8
to make or become shorter or narrower, or smaller:

Examples:

[ I ] When wet fibers dry, they contract.
9
to catch or become ill with a disease:

Examples:

10
to arrange through a formal agreement to have a person or company produce something or supply workers or material, esp. for building :

Examples:

The company had been contracted to build shelters for the homeless.
11
To contract out a job is to formally arrange for other people to do it:

Examples:

[ M ] The university contracts out the cleaning to a private company.
12
a formal agreement between two people or companies, or a legal document that explains the details of this agreement:

Examples:

contract for sth The contract for the new drilling platform went to a Dutch company.
contract to do sth He recently landed a contract to write a book about his expedition.
contract with sb State agencies spent about $319 million on contracts with private vendors last year.
contract between sb and sb It is a standard contract between a home seller and their agent.
draw up/write up a contract
enter into/sign a contract
be awarded/win/land a contract
a long-term/short-term contract
13

Examples:

An option differs from a futures contract, in which both parties make a binding agreement to buy or sell currency at some point in the future.
14
to have made a formal agreement with another person or company, and be legally responsible for doing what you have agreed to do:

Examples:

We're under contract to complete the job by the end of the year.
15
if a building or property is under contract, the owner has officially agreed to sell it to a particular person for a particular price:

Examples:

Two of the site's 8000 sq ft commercial lofts are currently under contract.
16
if an organization, government, etc. puts something out to contract, they allow different companies to compete to provide a service or do a job for them:

Examples:

One way to make the process more efficient would be to put it out to contract.
17
if a market or economy contracts, less money is being earned, spent, or invested in it:

Examples:

contract by 3%/5%, etc. The country’s economy contracted by 2% in the first quarter.
18
to make a legal agreement with another person or company, for example, to do work for them or to use their services:

Examples:

be contracted to do sth A local architecture firm was contracted to design and plan the new symphony hall.
19
contract workers are paid by companies or other organizations to work on a particular job, but are not employees of those companies, organizations, etc.:

Examples:

Many contract workers provide services once handled in-house by the military.
New and growing businesses often initially hire contract labor to prevent overstaffing and runaway overheads.
contract computing staff

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