The law severly contrabands
Our taking business of men's hands.
Hudibras.
Con"tra*band*ism (-&ibreve;z'm), n. Traffic in contraband goods; smuggling.
Con"tra*band`ist (?), n. One who traffics illegally; a smuggler.
Con`tra*bass" (?), n. (Mus.) Double bass; -- applied to any instrument of the same deep range as the stringed double bass; as, the contrabass ophicleide; the contrabass tuba or bombardon.
Con`tra*bas"so (?), n. [It. contrabasso.] (Mus.) The largest kind of bass viol. See Violone.
Con*tract" (k&obreve;n*trăkt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Contracting.] [L. contractus, p. p. of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf. F. contracter. See Trace, and cf. Contract, n.] 1. 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.
Dr. H. More.