CONTRAST

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contrast mean? 

• CONTRAST (noun)
  The noun CONTRAST has 5 senses:

1. the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared

2. the act of distinguishing by comparing differences

3. a conceptual separation or distinction

4. the perceptual effect of the juxtaposition of very different colors

5. the range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness)

  Familiarity information: CONTRAST used as a noun is common.

• CONTRAST (verb)
  The verb CONTRAST has 2 senses:

1. put in opposition to show or emphasize differences

2. to show differences when compared; be different

  Familiarity information: CONTRAST used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTRAST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

contrast; direct contrast

Context example:

by contrast

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

oppositeness; opposition (the relation between opposed entities)

Derivation:

contrast (put in opposition to show or emphasize differences)

contrast (to show differences when compared; be different)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of distinguishing by comparing differences

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

comparing; comparison (the act of examining resemblances)

Derivation:

contrast (put in opposition to show or emphasize differences)

contrast (to show differences when compared; be different)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A conceptual separation or distinction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

contrast; demarcation; dividing line; line

Context example:

there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity

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

differentiation; distinction (a discrimination between things as different and distinct on the basis of their characteristics or attributes)

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

point of no return; Rubicon (a line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment)

Derivation:

contrast (put in opposition to show or emphasize differences)

contrast (to show differences when compared; be different)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The perceptual effect of the juxtaposition of very different colors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

beholding; seeing; visual perception (perception by means of the eyes)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

ambit; compass; orbit; range; reach; scope (an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:)

Domain category:

photography; picture taking (the act of taking and printing photographs)

Derivation:

contrasty (having sharp differences between black and white)

• CONTRAST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they contrast ... he / she / it contrasts
Past simple: contrasted   
Past participle: contrasted   
-ing form: contrasting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put in opposition to show or emphasize differences

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

The middle school teacher contrasted her best student's work with that of her weakest student

Hypernyms (to "contrast" is one way to...):

differentiate; distinguish; secern; secernate; separate; severalise; severalize; tell; tell apart (mark as different)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

contrast (the act of distinguishing by comparing differences)

contrast (a conceptual separation or distinction)

contrast (the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To show differences when compared; be different

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

contrast; counterpoint

Context example:

the students contrast considerably in their artistic abilities

Hypernyms (to "contrast" is one way to...):

differ (be different)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contrast"):

counterbalance; oppose (contrast with equal weight or force)

conflict (be in conflict)

foil (enhance by contrast)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

contrast (the act of distinguishing by comparing differences)

contrast (a conceptual separation or distinction)

contrast (the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared)

contrastive (strikingly different; tending to contrast)

contrastive (of words so related that one contrasts with the other)

 Context examples 

By contrast, only chronic sleep loss activates microglia cells and promotes their phagocytic activity ... suggesting that extended sleep disruption may prime microglia and perhaps predispose the brain to other forms of insult.

(Lack of Sleep Makes Brain to Literally Eat Itself, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In contrast, Earth’s solid core is about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) across, taking up a little more than a third of this planet’s entire core.

(A Closer Look at Mercury’s Spin and Gravity Reveals the Planet’s Inner Solid Core, NASA)

This is in stark contrast to present-day galaxies, where the effects of mysterious dark matter seem to be much greater.

(Dark Matter Less Influential in Galaxies in Early Universe, ESO)

In contrast to the newly discovered properties of the high-energy neutrinos, about 100 trillion neutrinos with lower energies pass through the human body, on average, every second without being absorbed.

(Antarctic detector offers first look at how Earth stops high-energy neutrinos in their tracks, National Science Foundation)

In contrast, the volcanic plains surrounding these distinctive regions are attributed to volcanic activity that started about 3 1/2 billion years ago and ended roughly 1 billion years ago.

(Evidence for Young Lunar Volcanism, NASA)

This is in contrast to whole genome sequencing, which analyzes the entire 6 billion DNA base pairs of the human genome.

(Gene Disruptions Associated with Autism Risk, NIH)

In contrast, the macaque’s experience of the visual world is probably very similar to our own.

(Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch, National Institutes of Health)

In contrast, the tumor cells form small discrete tubules.

(Appendix Tubular Carcinoid, NCI Thesaurus)

A type of computed tomography in which images are taken during the time when the contrast medium has passed the heart and entered the arteries.

(Arterial Phase Spiral CT, NCI Thesaurus)

This disorder should be contrasted with prosopagnosia, in which an individual may not recognize a familiar person at all.

(Capgras Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)