contraband

con-tra-band /'knntrabaend; NAmE 'ka:n-/ noun [U] goods that are illegally taken into or out of a country (          contraband

goods      0 to smuggle contraband

con tra bass /'kDntrabeis; NAmE 'keen-/ adj. (of a musical instrument 9k f£) with a range of notes one octave below that of a bass instrument ft IS# 65: a contrabass clarinet fnfSia

con tra-bas-soon /’knntrabasuin; NAmE 'ka:n-/ (also .double bas'soon) noun a bassoon that is larger and longer than the normal type and produces lower notes

con tra cep tion /.kDntra'sepJn; NAmE ,ka:n-/ noun [u] the practice of preventing a woman from becoming pregnant; the methods of doing this ( ffe-) ; WW (    birth control : to give advice about

contraception   A&H

con tra cep tive /.kontra'septiv; NAmE ,ka:n-/ noun a drug, device or practice used to prevent a woman becoming pregnant         oral

contraceptives n IR M ¥ f?j contra-cep-tive adj. [only before noun]: a contraceptive pill  0 contracep­tive advice/precautions/methods    / ftSS / ffm

con tract noun, verb

m noun /'knntraekt; NAmE 'ka:n-/ 1 ~ (with sb) | ~ (be­tween A and B) | ~ (for sth/to do sth) an official written agreement |f]; ff #};  to enter into/make/

sign a contract with the supplier if   0 a

contract for the supply of vehicles A IW fft Jkl. ifHj 0 to win/be awarded a contract to build a new school

0 These clauses form part of the contract between buyer and seller.

|W] ‘nP^o 0 a contract of employment fgff |w] o a research contract    0 cl contract

worker (= one employed on a contract for a fixed period of time) ^Iol was on a three-year contract that expired last week.     H ¥M 1^ Sfcjp i. M S9

o 0 Under the terms of the contract the job should have been finished yesterday. fitMif M (tfj&Wi, jlll# 0 She is under contract to (= has a contract to work for) a major American computer firm.

o The offer

has been accepted, subject to contract (= the agreement is not official until the contract is signed), lit fix. iff S M gc3£, $ fit lU.ljt A ?£ o o They were sued for breach of contract (= not keeping to a contract), fife {H M la 1$ 2 ~ (on sb) (informal) an agreement to kill sb for money ( JjM Afi'J )     to take out a

contract on sb

verb /kan’traekt/ 1 to become less or smaller; to make sth become less or smaller ( {£ )    [V] Glass

contracts as it cools. 3$ M j§ A i[ft tk 0 0 a contracting market (ft 0 The heart muscles contract to expel the blood.        thlML 0 [VN] ‘1 will’ and

Tshall’ are usually contracted to T’lt\{= made shorter). * I will ffl I shall I’ll, 0 The exercise consists

of stretching and contracting the leg muscles. fgff MfHI*! o Ena expand 2 [VN] (medical ]£) to get an illness  ) ; % ( ^ ) : to contract

AIDS/a virus/a disease     / ft# f 3 ~ sb (to

sth) to make a legal agreement with sb for them to work for you or provide you with a service fn] ( sit IS IV) : [VN to inf] The player is contracted to play until August. j£ U        # M tfc U M A FI         

[VN] Several computer engineers have been contracted to the finance department, ff /IfA if     Jft A §13 H

4 [V to inf] to make a legal agreement to work for sb or provide them with a service IT A • • ■ A) ff MS IS If )’i She has contracted to work 20 hours a week.     20      5 [VN] ~ a

marriage/an alliance (with sb) (formal) to formally agree to marry sb/form an alliance with sb (;# ••• ) if (       ) ;    ( i?*- )       ( [e]3l ) IJ!l;iyi contract 'in

(to sth) (BrE) to formally agree that you will take part in sth iT#j          con .tract 'out (of sth) (BrE) to formally

agree that you will not take part in sth ff ^ ^ #A; il dl (  Many employees contracted out

of the pension plan,

con,tract sth^'out (to sb) to arrange for work to be done by another company rather than your own iT

.contract 'bridge noun [U] the standard form of the card game bridge, in which points are given only for sets of cards that are bid and won

con tract ile /kan'traektail/ adj. (biology A) (of living tissue, organs, etc.         tlW^) able to contract or,

of an opening or tube, become narrower bJ ift       $J;

(AtiiTf)

con trac-tion /kan'traekfn/ noun 1 [U] the process of becoming smaller i]£ ; it 7 : the expansion and

contraction of the metal   I o The sudden

contraction of the markets left them with a lot of unwanted stock.

7eAfcl$S£l§o PUS! expansion 2 [C, U] a sudden and painful contracting of muscles, especially of the muscles around a woman’s womb that happen when she is giving birth to a child ( 111 (H ) itft tt, ^it;

( X fkBt) fVityiiil-. The contractions started coming every five minutes. :p ^Jf hn^jWiTLjfj' ff1 A it ' KXo 3 [C] (linguistics if g) a short form of a word is](fjit $$$ ‘Tic’s’ may be a contraction of ‘he is’ or ‘he has’.

*                  he’s RTliUI he is he has (fiiti*]'3£o con-tract-or /kan'trsekta^)/ noun a person or company

that has a contract to do work or provide goods or services for another company ff]: a building/haulage, etc. contractor o to employ an outside contractor ® con tract ual /kan'traektjual/ adj. connected with the conditions of a legal written agreement; agreed in a contract fffe](ft; MiWr,    mkH )

con tra dict /.knntra'dikt; NAmE ,ka:n-/ verb 1 to say that sth that sb else has said is wrong, and that the opposite is true  [VN] All evening her

husband contradicted everything she said. H A        h M

ff 'A 3t A IP fx m o o You’ve just contradicted yourself (= said the opposite of what you said before), iff to

#                  Ui HU i^   7 ft o [also V speech, VN speech] 2 [VN] (of statements or pieces of evidence l^ii^ciiE^) to be so different from each other that one of them must be wrong f@ M; IS 7 ft; f0 &: The two stories contra­dict each other.

con tra dic-tion /.knntra'dikjfi; NAmE ,ka:n-/ noun T[C, U] ~ (between A and B) a lack of agreement between facts, opinions, actions, etc. (      )

yf—Wt, JrM, MfL: There is a contradiction between the two sets of figures. & j#j M Ik ^ fI S. ^ if 0 0 His public speeches are in direct contradiction to his personal lifestyle.

|g g. o 0 How can we resolve this apparent contradic­tion?        2 [u, C] the

act of saying that sth that sb else has said is wrong or not true; an example of this jg.^;    l think I can

say, without fear of contradiction, that ... tfcWWA-S 0 Now you say you both left at ten that’s a contradiction of your last statement. % M iaifcfIMAjSMff tfj, vL ffl -t K A it o rnTTTI a .contradiction in terms a statement containing two words that contradict each other’s meaning   : A ‘nomad settlement’ is a

contradiction in terms.      JIT J^jfits] h ftf) flfg

contradictory /.kDntra'diktari; NAmE ,ka:n-/ adj. containing or showing a contradiction fg 5 dk IS &\J; A alW; 7—BH3 conflicting: We are faced with two apparently contradictory statements. A ill ffi HU & W If i5^ iA M. A Mi A  o o The advice I received was often

contradictory,

con tra distinctions /.knntradi'stirjkfn; NAmE ,ka:n-/ noun H»T?n in contradistinction to sth/sb (formal) in contrast with sth/sb % - |g)f|[t ( j£H$$A[n] ) contrafac-tive /.kDntra'faektiv; NAmE ,ka:n-/ adj. (grammar if iA) (of verbs if] is]) talking about sth that is not true. ‘Pretend’ and ‘wish’ are contrafactive verbs. —compare factive, non-factive