- [uncountable]
the process of becoming smaller 收缩；缩小 The design needs to allow for the expansion and contraction of the metal. 设计需要考虑到金属的膨胀和收缩。 The sudden contraction of the markets left them with a lot of unwanted stock. 股票市场骤然收缩，让他们剩下了许多无人要的股票。 Physical stress caused by expansion and contraction can damage components within the computer. 由膨胀和收缩引起的物理应力会损坏计算机内的组件。 the contraction of the pipes in cold weather 寒冷天气中管道的收缩
- [countable, uncountable]
a sudden and painful contracting of muscles, especially the muscles around a woman’s womb, that happens when she is giving birth to a child （肌肉的）收缩，挛缩；（尤指分娩时的）子宫收缩 The contractions started coming every five minutes. 子宫开始每隔五分钟收缩一次。 Neurons control the contraction of muscles. 神经细胞控制肌肉收缩 The contractions were coming every ten minutes. 宫缩每10分钟出现一次。
WordfinderTopics Life stagesc2 - [countable] (
linguistics 语言学 a short form of a word 词的缩约形式
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French from Latin contractio(n-), from contrahere ‘draw together’, from con- ‘together’ + trahere ‘draw’.