CONTRACTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contractor mean? 

• CONTRACTOR (noun)
  The noun CONTRACTOR has 4 senses:

1. someone (a person or firm) who contracts to build things

2. the bridge player in contract bridge who wins the bidding and can declare which suit is to be trumps

3. (law) a party to a contract

4. a bodily organ that contracts

  Familiarity information: CONTRACTOR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTRACTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone (a person or firm) who contracts to build things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("contractor" is a kind of...):

builder; constructor (someone who contracts for and supervises construction (as of a building))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contractor"):

defense contractor (a contractor concerned with the development and manufacture of systems of defense)

hauler; haulier (a haulage contractor)

ship-breaker (a contractor who buys old ships and breaks them up for scrap)

subcontractor (someone who enters into a subcontract with the primary contractor)

Derivation:

contract (enter into a contractual arrangement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The bridge player in contract bridge who wins the bidding and can declare which suit is to be trumps

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

contractor; declarer

Hypernyms ("contractor" is a kind of...):

bridge player; hand (a card player in a game of bridge)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(law) a party to a contract

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("contractor" is a kind of...):

party (a person involved in legal proceedings)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contractor"):

builder; constructor (someone who contracts for and supervises construction (as of a building))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A bodily organ that contracts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

contractile organ; contractor

Hypernyms ("contractor" is a kind of...):

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contractor"):

muscle; musculus (one of the contractile organs of the body)

Derivation:

contract (squeeze or press together)

 Context examples 

If you’ve been in a dispute with a contractor, you may suddenly get a chance to resolve the matter.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

NASA partnered with lead contractor, Lockheed Martin, in February 2016 for the QueSST preliminary design.

(NASA Completes Milestone Toward Quieter Supersonic X-Plane, NASA)

I’d have a dead dockyard contractor as a figure-head for every first-rate in the fleet, and a provision dealer for every frigate.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A government-owned, contractor operated cancer research facility located in Frederick, MD.

(Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, NCI Thesaurus)

The country round is very lonely, but about half a mile to the north there is a small cluster of villas which have been built by a Tavistock contractor for the use of invalids and others who may wish to enjoy the pure Dartmoor air.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some Aquarians have had difficulty finding an apartment or had trouble with a contractor who is working on their home.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“We shall never do any good upon the ocean until we have hanged the dockyard contractors,” he cried.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You might be moving, hiring contractors, or ordering repairs.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Her only option was to pay a second contractor (almost doubling her costs) and then take the first contractor to court, a case that is still pending.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

You may be moving to a new house or seeing the contractors or painters finish up a project.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)