Synonyms of contracting

contracting 1 of 2

noun

as in squeezing

the act or process of reducing the size or volume of something by or as if by pressing

the contracting of the time frame for the primaries tends to favor candidates who are already well-known

Synonyms & Similar Words

• squeezing
• compression
• condensing
• contraction
• squeeze
• condensation
• consolidation
• constriction
• compaction
• constricting
• telescoping
• compacting
• concentration
• shortening
• curtailment
• decreasing
• abbreviation
• streamlining
• abridgment
• simplification
• lessening
• diminishment

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• expansion
• dispersion
• scattering
• inflation
• decompression
• dissipation
• swelling
• dilation
• distension

contracting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of contract

1

as in getting

to become affected with (a disease or disorder)

before vaccines were invented, people lived in fear of contracting polio

Synonyms & Similar Words

• getting
• catching
• taking
• coming down (with)
• going down (with)
• sickening (with)
• weakening
• worsening
• dying (from)
• succumbing (to)
• failing
• sinking
• breaking out (with)
• languishing
• wasting (away)
• withering
• wilting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• recovering
• gaining
• healing
• coming back
• recuperating
• mending
• shaking (off)
• recouping
• recovering (from)
• rebounding
• snapping back
• rallying

2

as in shrinking

to become smaller in size or volume through the drawing together of particles of matter

metal contracts at low temperatures

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shrinking
• compressing
• decreasing
• condensing
• constricting
• collapsing
• flattening
• withdrawing
• diminishing
• retreating
• shriveling
• dwindling
• drying up
• lessening
• receding
• withering
• deflating
• wilting
• abating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• expanding
• swelling
• increasing
• growing
• accumulating
• snowballing
• ballooning
• inflating
• puffing (up)
• ballooning

3

as in compressing

to reduce in size or volume by or as if by pressing parts or members together

contract the calf muscles in your legs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• compressing
• squeezing
• condensing
• consolidating
• packing
• collapsing
• constricting
• compacting
• narrowing (down)
• telescoping
• constringing
• simplifying
• capsuling
• capsulizing
• cramming
• shortening
• curtailing
• downsizing
• shrinking
• decreasing
• crowding
• jamming
• abridging
• streamlining
• concentrating
• abbreviating
• diminishing
• jam-packing
• boiling down
• lessening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• expanding
• opening
• dilating
• dispersing
• scattering
• dissipating
• decompressing
• swelling
• outspreading
• outstretching
• inflating
• distending

4

as in bargaining

to come to an arrangement as to a course of action

the farmer contracted for delivery of the hay by the first of July

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bargaining
• agreeing
• covenanting
• coming to terms
• arranging
• underwriting
• striking a bargain
• coming around
• subscribing
• coming round
• settling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• differing
• disagreeing
• dissenting
• revoking
• canceling
• arguing
• objecting
• contesting
• disputing
• reneging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of contracting

Noun

As much as ten percent (and perhaps even more) of their staff work on law-related, contracting, and cybersecurity teams. — Doug Beck, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

The July 2026 jobs report showed the economy contracting by 23,000 jobs against a consensus forecast of positive 83,000. — Susan Lamotte, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

The person Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway chose to illustrate that Kansas City’s contracting system is biased has a history of ties to Kansas City Mafia figures. — Jack Harvel august 17, Kansas City Star, 17 Aug. 2026

DiGiannantonio was part of a group of six men, most of them young, married fathers working in industries such as general contracting and liquor sales, who opened Hooters on a lark. — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

When his throwing career ends, Tanner expects to enter Air Force contracting, helping acquire the goods and services needed to operate aircraft, installations and military units. — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2026

Second District Supervisor Sarmiento said the audit continues to expose problems in the county’s contracting processes. — Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 12 Aug. 2026

Critics may reasonably ask whether a procurement preference could increase the state’s contracting costs. — David I. Levine, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026

If the typical contracting safeguards had been in place, perhaps everything that followed could have been prevented. — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026

Verb

The city's online records, which go back to 2019, show about $110,000 in legal work in 2025 and about $225,000 in 2023, far less than other law firms contracting with the City of Denver. — Brian Maass, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026

At least two people in Michigan with existing medical conditions even tragically died after contracting the parasite. — Maggie Harrison Dupré, Futurism, 20 Aug. 2026

Disney will also provide operational oversight though the new park will be operated by Miral which is contracting Disney's Imagineers – architects named after their imaginative use of engineering – to design it. — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026

Several speakers urged the city to stop contracting with Flock at a City Council meeting Monday. — Tom Olsen, Twin Cities, 14 Aug. 2026

The unidentified parkgoer is considered at risk of contracting the disease. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026

But the legacy sequel as near-inevitability didn’t really take off in earnest until the 2000s, when millennial nostalgia started contracting in quicker cycles. — Vadim Rizov, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2026

The proposal also would restrict California agencies from contracting with companies that allow federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies to search California license plate databases, according to CalMatters. — Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Instead of contracting for one Repkon production line, the Army signed up to buy three. — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026