| English Dictionary |
CONTACT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does contact mean?
• CONTACT (noun)
The noun CONTACT has 9 senses:
1. close interaction
2. the act of touching physically
3. the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity
4. the physical coming together of two or more things
5. a person who is in a position to give you special assistance
6. a channel for communication between groups
7. (electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact
8. a communicative interaction
9. a thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication
Familiarity information: CONTACT used as a noun is familiar.
• CONTACT (verb)
The verb CONTACT has 2 senses:
1. be in or establish communication with
2. be in direct physical contact with; make contact
Familiarity information: CONTACT used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Close interaction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
they claimed that they had been in contact with extraterrestrial beings
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
interaction (a mutual or reciprocal action; interacting)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contact"):
eye contact (contact that occurs when two people look directly at each other)
placement (contact established between applicants and prospective employees)
brush (contact with something dangerous or undesirable)
Derivation:
contact (be in or establish communication with)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of touching physically
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
contact; physical contact
Context example:
her fingers came in contact with the light switch
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
touch; touching (the act of putting two things together with no space between them)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contact"):
rub; wipe (the act of rubbing or wiping)
fair ball ((baseball) a ball struck with the bat so that it stays between the lines (the foul lines) that define the width of the playing field)
snick (a glancing contact with the ball off the edge of the cricket bat)
laying on (the act of contacting something with your hand)
Derivation:
contact (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
litmus paper turns red on contact with an acid
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
connectedness; connection; link (the state of being connected)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contact"):
osculation ((mathematics) a contact of two curves (or two surfaces) at which they have a common tangent)
tangency (the state of being tangent; having contact at a single point or along a line without crossing)
Derivation:
contact (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The physical coming together of two or more things
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Synonyms:
Context example:
contact with the pier scraped paint from the hull
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contact"):
engagement; interlocking; mesh; meshing (contact by fitting together)
touch; touching (the event of something coming in contact with the body)
impact (the striking of one body against another)
flick (a light sharp contact (usually with something flexible))
collision; hit ((physics) a brief event in which two or more bodies come together)
Derivation:
contact (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A person who is in a position to give you special assistance
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
contact; middleman
Context example:
he used his business contacts to get an introduction to the governor
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
representative (a person who represents others)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A channel for communication between groups
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
contact; inter-group communication; liaison; link
Context example:
he provided a liaison with the guerrillas
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
channel; communication channel; line ((often plural) a means of communication or access)
Derivation:
contact (be in or establish communication with)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
contact; tangency
Context example:
they forget to solder the contacts
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
conjunction; junction (something that joins or connects)
Domain category:
electronics (the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contact"):
p-n junction (the junction between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor)
contact arm; wiper; wiper arm (contact consisting of a conducting arm that rotates over a series of fixed contacts and comes to rest on an outlet)
tread (the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground)
pole; terminal (a contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves)
sound bow (contact (the part of a bell) against which the clapper strikes)
short; short circuit (accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference)
electrical contact (contact that allows current to pass from one conductor to another)
breaker point; distributor point; point (a contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts them and current flows to the spark plugs)
Sense 8
Meaning:
A communicative interaction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
contact; touch
Context example:
he got in touch with his colleagues
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
communicating; communication (the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information)
Sense 9
Meaning:
A thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
contact; contact lens
Hypernyms ("contact" is a kind of...):
lens; lens system; lense (a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it contacts Past simple: contacted
Past participle: contacted
-ing form: contacting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Be in or establish communication with
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
contact; get hold of; get through; reach
Context example:
He never contacted his children after he emigrated to Australia
Hypernyms (to "contact" is one way to...):
communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contact"):
ping (send a message from one computer to another to check whether it is reachable and active)
ping (contact, usually in order to remind of something)
raise (establish radio communications with)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
contact (close interaction)
contact (a channel for communication between groups)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Be in direct physical contact with; make contact
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
Context example:
The surfaces contact at this point
Verb group:
converge; meet (be adjacent or come together)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contact"):
cover; spread over (form a cover over)
adhere; cleave; cling; cohere; stick (come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation)
chafe; fray; fret; rub; scratch (cause friction)
attach (be attached; be in contact with)
hug (fit closely or tightly)
abut; adjoin; border; butt; butt against; butt on; edge; march (lie adjacent to another or share a boundary)
border; environ; ring; skirt; surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)
lean against; lean on; rest on (rest on for support)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
contact (the act of touching physically)
contact (the physical coming together of two or more things)
contact (the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity)
Context examples
The bacteria is highly contagious and is spread thorough close contact with the victims.
(Experts Link Fatal Mystery Illness in Liberia to Meningitis Bacteria, VOA)
Thus, when the snow comes into contact with the silicon surface, the contact produces a charge that the device catches.
(Nanogenerator Creates Electricity from Snowfall, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The point on a glacier where it first loses contact with land is called the grounding line.
(West Antarctic Glacier loss appears unstoppable, NASA)
Cassini was programmed to collect science data while close to the planet and turn toward Earth to make contact about 20 hours after the crossing.
(Cassini Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings, NASA)
Before Curiosity began further investigating the high-silica area, it was busy scrutinizing the geological contact zone near Marias Pass, where a pale mudstone meets darker sandstone.
(Curiosity Rover Inspects Unusual Bedrock, NASA)
The chemical is absorbed into the body mainly through the food or water it contacts in the container.
(Do Food Container Chemicals Make Us Fat?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The study team followed 88 people with confirmed pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus infection and 300 of their household contacts.
(New study reveals a novel indicator of influenza immunity, National Institutes of Health)
A person who coordinates and manages address and contact information for an organization.
(Address Module Coordinator, NCI Thesaurus)
The cytoplasmic APC complex may regulate cell adhesion or transmission of contact inhibition signals into cells.
(Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein, NCI Thesaurus)
A contact dermatitis due to allergic sensitization to various substances.
(Allergic Contact Dermatitis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
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