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contraction
road continues for another five miles. | If sales continue at
their present rate, we will make record profits this year. | How
long can they continue (with) this damaging strike? | [+to-v]
Although they were obviously getting angry, he continued to
stare at them. | Despite having new owners, the company will
continue to be run by its present management. | [+v-ing] He
continued writing his diaries until he died. | The dollar
remained high because of the continued strength of the US
economy. 2 [I;T] to (cause to) start again after an interrup-
tion: After a short break the game continued. | The story will
be continued next week. | [+v-ing] Are you going to continue
gardening after dinner? 3 [+adv/prep] to remain in a place,
state, or condition; stay: She will continue as spokeswoman
for the organization. 4 [I;T] to say also; go on to say,
especially after an interruption: The politician continued by
saying that he thought taxes should be lowered. | 'And so,' she
continued, 'the fight for equality must go on.' -> see also
CONTINUAL, CONTINUOUS, DISCONTINUE
con,tinuing edu'cation n [U] education provided for
adults outside the formal educational system, usually by
means of classes that are held in the evening; ADULT EDUCA-
TION -> compare FURTHER EDUCATION
con-ti-nu-i-ty /,kontI'nju:DI||,ka:ntI'nu:-/ n [U] 1 [(in,
between)] uninterrupted connection; the fact or quality of
being continuous: There's no continuity between the three
parts of the book. 2 tech the arrangement of the parts of a
film, broadcast etc to give the appearance of continuous
action 3 tech the music, words etc, that connect the parts of
a broadcast, film etc
con'tinuity an,nouncer n the person responsible for
giving the listeners or viewers information between the
programmes on radio or television
con-tin-u-o /kən'tInju-əu/ also figured bass n pl. -os [C;U]
(in music, especially of the 17th and 18th centuries) a musical
part consisting of a set of low notes with figures showing the
higher notes (CHORDS) to be played with them
con-tin-u-ous /kən'tInjuəs/ adj continuing without inter-
ruption; unbroken: The brain needs a continuous supply of
blood. | The government is under continuous pressure to
reform the parliamentary system. | a continuous line of cars/
rise in the population | that printer uses continuous paper
(=connected sheets of folded pages) -> see CONTINUAL
(USAGE) —ly adv
con,tinuous as'sessment n [U] the system of judging
the quality of a student's work at every stage of a course,
rather than only in exams at the end of the course. This is
an important part of the GCSE courses which are now
taught in British schools: 'What proportion of your degree
course was continuous assessment?' 'Sixty per cent.' -> see
Feature on page A12
con-tin-u-um /kən'tInjuəm/ n pl. -uumes or -ua /juə/ fml or
tech 1 something which is without parts and the same from
beginning to end: the continuum of time | the space/time
continuum 2 something that changes gradually and without
sudden breaks: a continuum from the lowest to the highest
forms of life
con-tort /kən'tɔ:t||-ɔ:rt/ v [I;T(with)] to (cause to) twist vio-
lently out of shape: Her face was contorted with anger/with
pain. | trees with contorted branches
con-tor-tion /kən'tɔ:ʃən||-ɔ:r-/ n 1 [U] the act of contort-
ing or being contorted: the contortion of the body caused by
certain kinds of poison 2 [C] a twisted position or move-
ment: the contortions of a snake
con-tor-tion-ist /kən'tɔ:ʃənIst||-ɔ:r-/ n someone, espe-
cially a professional entertainer, who can twist their body
into unnatural shapes and positions: (fig.) Watch out for Sally
in an argument - she's a bit of a verbal contortionist!
con-tour¹ /'kɒntuə||'kɑ:n-/ n 1 also contours pl. — the
shape of the outer edges of an area: the irregular contours of
the British coastline 2 also 'contour line a line drawn on a
map to show the limits of the areas at or above a certain
height above sea level: the 500 foot contour | a contour map
contour² v [T] tech 1 to build (a road) along the contours of
a hill 2 to show the contours of (an area) on a map
contour³ adj [A] following the contours of the land
con·tra /'kɒntrə||'kɑ:n-/ n [usually pl.] 1 (often cap.) a member
of a military organization which fought the Nicaraguan
government in the 1980s: the Contra rebels -> see also
IRANGATE 2 someone who opposes another, usually in a
political sense: Tory contras opposed to Heseltine
contra- -> see WORD FORMATION TABLE
con·tra·band /'kɒntrəbænd||'kɑ:n-/ adj, n [U] (of or being)
goods which it is not legal to bring into a country: Customs
officials seized several tons of contraband cigarettes. | to trade
in contraband
con·tra·bass /,kɒntrə'beIs||,kɑ:n-/ n a DOUBLE BASS
con·tra·cep·tion /,kɒntrə'sepʃən||,kɑ:n-/ n [U] the act or
practice of preventing sex from resulting in the birth of a
child, and/or the methods for doing this; BIRTH CONTROL:
Most doctors give advice on contraception. | Which method/
form of contraception do you use?
con·tra·cep·tive /,kɒntrə'septIv||,kɑ:n-/ n a drug, object,
or method used as a means of preventing an act of sex from
resulting in the woman becoming PREGNANT. Contraceptives
are usually obtained from a doctor, except for the CONDOM
which can be bought, for example at a CHEMIST's shop: The
percentage of married couples using contraceptives is very
high in this country. -> see also CAP, CONDOM, IUD, PILL,
SPERMICIDE; see Cultural Note at CONDOM —contraceptive
adj [A] contraceptive advice/pills
con·tract¹ /'kɒntrækt||'kɑ:n-/ n 1 a formal written agree-
ment, having the force of law, between two or more people
or groups: a building contract | According to the terms of your
contract (of employment) you must give three months' notice if
you intend to leave. | The company has won a valuable
contract for the construction of a dam. | Is the contract
binding (on us)? | [+to-v] Our shop has entered into/made a
contract with a clothing firm to buy 100 coats a week. | If you
don't deliver the goods by Friday we will be breaking the
contract/ in breach of contract. -> see also CONTRACT³,
CONTRACTOR, CONTRACTUAL 2 a signed paper on which the
conditions of such an agreement are written: a draft
contract | to draw up a contract | to sign a contract 3 an
agreement (spoken rather than written) in the card game
BRIDGE to win a certain number of TRICKS: a contract of four
spades | They made the contract. 4 an agreement to kill a
particular person, especially for money; used mainly by
criminals: There was a contract out on him.
contract² v
contract in phr v [I(to)] especially BrE to agree or promise,
especially officially, to take part
contract out phr v 1 especially BrE [I(of)] to agree or promise,
especially officially, not to take part: to contract out of a
pension scheme 2 [T(contract sthg. <-> out) also farm sthg. <-> out AmE]
(of a company, organization etc) to arrange by formal
agreement to have (a job, services etc) done by another
company: Many councils are contracting out services such as
garbage collection to private companies as a way of cutting
costs.
con·tract³ /kən'trækt/ v 1 [I;T] to (cause to) become
smaller, narrower, or shorter: Metal contracts as it becomes
cool. | In conversational English 'is not' often contracts to
'isn't'. -> see also CONTRACTION 2 [I;T] to arrange by formal
agreement: to contract an alliance | [+to-v] The firm con-
tracted to build the new railway within the year. | Our shop
contracted with a local clothing firm for 100 coats a
week. 3 [T] fml to get or begin to have (something bad,
especially an illness): My son's contracted pneumonia. | to
contract a debt/a bad habit
,contract 'bridge n [U] a form of the card game BRIDGE in
which the partnership playing the HAND (4b) make a CON-
TRACT (=say how many TRICKS they will try to win) and any
additional tricks are recorded separately -> compare AUCTION
BRIDGE
con·trac·tile /kən'træktaIl|-tI/ also con·trac·ti·ble
/kən'træktIbəl/ adj tech (especially of a muscle) that can
become smaller: The heart is a highly contractile organ.
con·trac·tion /kən'trækʃən/ n 1 [U] the process of con-
tracting: the contraction of metal as it cools 2 [C(of)] a short-
ened form of a word or words: 'Haven't' is a contraction of
'have not'. 3 [C] med a very strong and often painful tighten-
ing of a muscle, especially of the muscles around the WOMB
during the process of birth: Come into the hospital when there
is a five minute space between (your) contractions.