Con*tract"ive (?), a. Tending to contract; having the property or power or power of contracting.
Con*tract"or (?), n. [L.] One who contracts; one of the parties to a bargain; one who covenants to do anything for another; specifically, one who contracts to perform work on a rather large scale, at a certain price or rate, as in building houses or making a railroad.
Con*trac"ture (?; 135), n. [L. contractura a drawing together.] (Med.) A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles.
Con"tra*dance` (?), n. [Pref. contra- + dance: cf. F. contrdance. Cf. Country-dance.] A dance in which the partners are arranged face to face, or in opposite lines.
Con`tra*dict" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contradicted; p. pr. & vb. n. Contradicting.] [L. contradictus, p. p. of contradicere to speak against; contra + dicere to speak. See Diction.] 1. To assert the contrary of; to oppose in words; to take issue with; to gainsay; to deny the truth of, as of a statement or a speaker; to impugn.
Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself,
And say it is not so.
Shak.
The future can not contradict the past.
Wordsworth.