Constrict vs. Contract: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on February 10, 2024
Constrict means to tighten or narrow, often physically; contract refers to shrinking or drawing together, or a legal agreement between parties.
Key Differences
Constrict primarily means to make something narrower or tighter, especially in a physical sense, as in muscles constricting. Contract can mean to draw together or become smaller, or it can refer to a formal agreement or legal document.
Shumaila Saeed
Feb 10, 2024
In biology, constrict is often used to describe the action of muscles or organs tightening. Contract, while also used for muscle actions, can refer to the reduction in size of tissues or cells.
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Feb 10, 2024
Constrict is commonly used in a literal sense, like a snake constricting its prey. Contract can be used both literally, as in contracting a muscle, and figuratively, like contracting an obligation or duty.
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Feb 10, 2024
Contract mostly appears in legal and business contexts, referring to a binding agreement between entities. Constrict does not typically have a legal or business connotation.
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Feb 10, 2024
Constrict can be used metaphorically to describe a situation becoming more limited or restricted. Contract, in its non-legal sense, can metaphorically refer to the act of becoming smaller or more compact.
Shumaila Saeed
Feb 10, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Primary Definition
To tighten or narrow physically
To shrink or draw together; a legal agreement
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Feb 10, 2024
Biological Context
Action of muscles or organs tightening
Reduction in size of tissues, or muscle action
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Feb 10, 2024
Common Usage
Literal, physical constriction
Literal and figurative; legal agreements
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Context in Business/Law
Not typically used
Frequently used for agreements and deals
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Metaphorical Use
Becoming more limited or restricted
Becoming smaller or compact; assuming obligations
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Feb 10, 2024
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Constrict and Contract Definitions
Constrict
Constrict can mean to make narrower.
The passage constricted as we moved further into the cave.
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Contract
In a biological context, contract refers to muscle actions.
Muscles contract during exercise.
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Constrict
Constrict can metaphorically describe a restricted situation.
His options constricted as time ran out.
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Contract
Contract is used for formal commitments or arrangements.
They contracted a builder for the renovation.
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Constrict
Constrict refers to the action of making tighter.
The bandage was constricted too tightly around the wound.
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Contract
Contract can be used figuratively to denote reduction.
His social circle contracted after he moved to a new city.
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Constrict
In biology, constrict describes muscle or organ constriction.
Blood vessels constrict to regulate blood flow.
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Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law.
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Constrict
Constrict is used to describe physical limitations.
The snake constricted its prey effortlessly.
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Jan 12, 2024
Constrict
To restrict the scope or freedom of; cramp
Lives constricted by poverty.
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Constrict
(ambitransitive) To narrow, especially by application of pressure.
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Contract
A paid assignment to murder someone
Put out a contract on the mobster's life.
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Contract
To enter into by contract; establish or settle by formal agreement
Contract a marriage.
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Jan 10, 2024
Constrict
To draw together; to render narrower or smaller; to bind; to cramp; to contract or cause to shrink.
Such things as constrict the fibers.
Membranous organs inclosing a cavity which their contraction serves to constrict.
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Jan 10, 2024
Contract
To acquire or incur
Contract obligations.
Contract a serious illness.
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Constrict
Squeeze or press together;
She compressed her lips
The spasm contracted the muscle
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Jan 10, 2024
Contract
(Grammar) To shorten (a word or words) by omitting or combining some of the letters or sounds, as do not to don't.
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Contract
To enter into or make an agreement
Contract for garbage collection.
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Contract
To become reduced in size by or as if by being drawn together
The pupils of the patient's eyes contracted.
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Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
Marriage is a contract.
Sign a contract
Write up a contract
Read a contract
Countersign a contract
Legally-binding contract
Unwritten contract
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Contract
(legal) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
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Contract
(legal) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
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Contract
(informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.
The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him.
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Contract
(bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.
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Contract
(ambitransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
The snail’s body contracted into its shell.
To contract one’s sphere of action
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Contract
(grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”.
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Contract
(transitive) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
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Contract
(intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.
To contract for carrying the mail
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Contract
(transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.
She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.
To contract a debt
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Contract
To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.
In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties.
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Contract
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.
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Contract
To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.
Each from each contract new strength and light.
Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station.
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Jan 10, 2024
Contract
To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen.
Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law.
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Contract
To betroth; to affiance.
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us.
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Jan 10, 2024
Contract
To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
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Contract
To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.
Years contracting to a moment.
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Jan 10, 2024
Contract
To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
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Contract
The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights.
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Contract
A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
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Contract
The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.
This is the the night of the contract.
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Contract
A binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law
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Contract
(contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make
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Contract
A variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid
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Contract
Engage by written agreement;
They signed two new pitchers for the next season
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Contract
Squeeze or press together;
She compressed her lips
The spasm contracted the muscle
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Contract
Become smaller or draw together;
The fabric shrank
The balloon shrank
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Contract
Be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness;
He got AIDS
She came down with pneumonia
She took a chill
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Contract
Compress or concentrate;
Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan
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Contract
Make or become more narrow or restricted;
The selection was narrowed
The road narrowed
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Contract
Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
The manuscript must be shortened
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Contract
Contract often refers to a legal agreement.
She signed a contract for her new job.
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Jan 12, 2024
Contract
Contract can mean to become smaller or tighter.
The fabric contracted when it was washed in hot water.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
How is constrict used in biology?
It's used to describe actions like muscles tightening.
Shumaila Saeed
Feb 10, 2024
Can constrict be used metaphorically?
Yes, it can describe situations becoming more limited.
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Feb 10, 2024
What does constrict mean in medical terms?
In medicine, it refers to the narrowing or tightening of body parts.
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Feb 10, 2024
Can a contract be verbal?
Yes, though written contracts are more enforceable.
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What's an example of constricting in nature?
Snakes constricting their prey is a common example.
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Is constrict always physical?
Mostly, but it can have metaphorical uses too.
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Feb 10, 2024
What is a contract in legal terms?
It's a formal agreement between parties.
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Feb 10, 2024
Is contracting a muscle voluntary?
It can be both voluntary and involuntary.
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Can a person constrict something?
Yes, like constricting a hose to stop water flow.
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Do muscles contract or constrict?
Muscles contract, meaning they shorten or tighten.
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Feb 10, 2024
Are contracts legally binding?
Yes, contracts are typically legally binding.
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Feb 10, 2024
Do blood vessels constrict or contract?
They constrict, narrowing to regulate blood flow.
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Feb 10, 2024
Is a handshake a contract?
It can be considered a symbolic or informal agreement.
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What happens if a contract is breached?
It can lead to legal disputes and penalties.
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Feb 10, 2024
Can emotional stress constrict blood vessels?
Yes, stress can lead to the constriction of blood vessels.
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Feb 10, 2024
How does temperature affect contraction?
Certain materials contract in response to cold temperatures.
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Feb 10, 2024
What is the opposite of contract?
Expand, in a physical sense; nullify or void, in a legal sense.
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Feb 10, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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