contribution

play

noun con·tri·bu·tion \ ˌkän-trə-ˈbyü-shən \

Definition of contribution

1 :a payment (such as a levy or tax) imposed by military, civil, or ecclesiastical authorities usually for a special or extraordinary purpose

2 :the act of contributing; also :the thing contributed

his $100 contribution to the cancer research fund

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contributive

play \kən-ˈtri-byə-tiv\ adjective

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contributively

adverb

See contribution defined for English-language learners

See contribution defined for kids

Examples of contribution in a Sentence

They thanked him for his contribution of time and money.
He made an important contribution to the debate.
As mayor, he made many positive contributions to the growth of the city.
a book of essays including contributions from several well-known political columnists
The money was raised by voluntary contribution.

Recent Examples of contribution from the Web

The institutions will be responsible for organizing the official U.S. contribution to the prestigious international architecture show.

— blair kamin, chicagotribune.com, "Art Institute school, U of C to organize U.S. biennale effort," 30 Aug. 2017
The total $2 million contribution will support first response efforts by the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the United Way of Greater Houston.

— kevin casas, star-telegram, "Hurricane forces Houston Texans to practice at Cowboys’ facility in Frisco," 28 Aug. 2017
Earlier this year, the school announced plans for a large and prominent memorial to the contributions of slaves.

— sarah larimer, Washington Post, "One week after that terrifying torchlight march, U-Va.’s new Hoos make a home," 18 Aug. 2017
Snee's significant contributions include implementing a program for male students who were not successful in their home schools, the Supplementary Education Center, which opened in Havre de Grace.

— The Aegis, "Snees inducted into Harford Educator Hall of Fame," 11 Aug. 2017
The Port agreed to provide seed money for the event and waive service fees through its tidelands activation program, with the idea that over time its financial contribution would decrease and the event would become self-sustaining.

— allison sampite-montecalvo, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Lack of leadership, funding cancels PowWow again," 7 Aug. 2017
Still, Stone’s most important contribution to this whole saga is likely to be as a mischievous catalyst, an embodiment and an enabler of the anything-goes, rules-are-made-to-be-broken, winning-is-all-that-matters spirit of Trump’s campaign.

— chris smith, vanityfair.com, "Roger Stone Is About to Have His Time in the Barrel," 21 July 2017
One advantage NASA has in trying to develop a lunar station is significant resource contribution from companies like Lockheed Martin, which see a potential for profit in lunar industry, primarily by manufacturing rocket fuel on the moon.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "NASA Is Studying Propulsion Systems for Its Moon Station," 20 July 2017
The Trump administration has proposed a 31 percent cut in contributions to the U.N. starting in October.

— Washington Post, "For 1st time, over half of people with HIV taking AIDS drugs," 20 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contribution.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.