Contraction
Encyclopedia
Contraction may refer to:
In physiology:
In linguistics:
In science:
In mathematics:
Other:
In physiology:
- Muscle contractionMuscle contractionMuscle fiber generates tension through the action of actin and myosin cross-bridge cycling. While under tension, the muscle may lengthen, shorten, or remain the same...
, one that occurs when a muscle fiber lengthens or shortens- Uterine contraction, contraction of the uterusUterusThe uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
, such as during childbirth
- Uterine contraction, contraction of the uterus
- Contraction, a stage in wound healing
In linguistics:
- SynalephaSynalephaA synalepha or synaloepha is the merging of two syllables into one, especially when it causes two words to be pronounced as one.The original meaning in Greek is more general than modern usage, and also includes coalescence of vowels within a word...
, merging of two syllables of adjacent words- ElisionElisionElision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce...
, the loss of a sound- Syncope (phonetics), the loss of sounds inside a word
- Contraction (grammar)Contraction (grammar)A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters....
, the shortening of a word or words by loss of a sound or sounds
- SynaeresisSynaeresisIn linguistics, synaeresis or syneresis is a sound change by which two vowels are pronounced together rather than separately...
, the pronunciation of two vowels as a diphthong - CrasisCrasisCrasis is a type of contraction in which two vowels or diphthongs merge into one new vowel or diphthong — making one word out of two. Crasis occurs in Portuguese and Arabic as well as in Ancient Greek, where it was first described.-French:...
, contraction of two vowels into one monophthong
- Elision
In science:
- Lanthanoid contraction, the decrease in size of the ionic radius of lanthanide elements with their growing atomic number (series of Rare Earth Elements (REE) in the Mendeleev Table)
- The reverse of thermal expansionThermal expansionThermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change in volume in response to a change in temperature.When a substance is heated, its particles begin moving more and thus usually maintain a greater average separation. Materials which contract with increasing temperature are rare; this effect is...
In mathematics:
- Contraction mappingContraction mappingIn mathematics, a contraction mapping, or contraction, on a metric space is a function f from M to itself, with the property that there is some nonnegative real number k...
, in mathematics, a type of function on a metric space - Contraction (operator theory)Contraction (operator theory)In operator theory, a bounded operator T: X → Y between normed vector spaces X and Y is said to be a contraction if its operator norm ||T|| ≤ 1. Every bounded operator becomes a contraction after suitable scaling...
- Edge contractionEdge contractionIn graph theory, an edge contraction is an operation which removes an edge from a graph while simultaneously merging together the two vertices it previously connected. Edge contraction is a fundamental operation in the theory of graph minors...
or vertex contraction, graph operations used in graph theory - Tensor contractionTensor contractionIn multilinear algebra, a tensor contraction is an operation on one or more tensors that arises from the natural pairing of a finite-dimensional vector space and its dual. In components, it is expressed as a sum of products of scalar components of the tensor caused by applying the summation...
in tensor theory - Contraction (Conditional Independence), in probability, one of the rules of Conditional Independence
Other:
- Economic contraction or recessionRecessionIn economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
, a reversal of economic growth; the opposite of economic expansion - A structural rule in proof theory
- In sports, the (sometimes forced) elimination of a team. The opposite of expansionExpansion teamAn expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...
. Example: the elimination of several teams after the Canadian Football League'sCanadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
failed attempt to expand into the United StatesCFL USAThe term CFL USA refers to the abortive expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States in the early-to-mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners...
in the early 1990s.