contracture an abnormal and usually permanent contraction of a muscle
tetanus a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses
uterine contraction a rhythmic tightening in labor of the upper uterine musculature that contracts the size of the uterus and pushes the fetus toward the birth canal
contraction -
a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds; "`won't' is a contraction of `will not'"; "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'"
Contraction -
the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling"
Contraction -
A period of economic decline or negativegrowth.
Contraction -
A shortening of a muscle when it is used.
Contraction -
A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
Contraction -
A process whereby one or more sounds of a freemorpheme a word are lost or reduced, such that it becomes a bound morpheme a clitic that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
Contraction -
A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process.