Contract vs. Expand — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 5, 2023
Contract" means to become smaller or to shrink, while "expand" means to increase in size or scope. Both terms denote changes in dimensions or scope.
Difference Between Contract and Expand
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Contract" and "Expand" are antonyms in the context of size and volume. While to contract signifies decreasing in size, area, or extent, to expand denotes becoming larger or spreading out.
In a broader context, contract can also refer to entering into a formal agreement, while expand might indicate broadening one's horizons or scope. They both touch on the idea of change, but in opposite directions and in different realms.
In physical terms, materials might contract due to cold temperatures, causing them to shrink or condense. Conversely, when materials expand, it's often because of heat, leading them to take up more space.
Contract can also be used in a medical sense, such as muscles contracting, indicating a shortening or tightening action. On the other hand, expand can describe lungs during inhalation, as they increase in volume to accommodate air.
Economically, contract might refer to a market or economy that is shrinking or receding. In contrast, to expand in this context suggests growth, diversification, or extension of market reach.
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Comparison Chart
Basic Meaning
To become smaller or decrease in size.
To become larger or increase in size.
Contextual Meaning
To enter into a formal agreement.
To broaden or diversify in scope or range.
Physical Reaction
Often due to cold or compression.
Often due to heat or decompression.
Use in Medicine
Muscles contract or shorten.
Lungs expand during inhalation.
Economic Context
A shrinking or receding market/economy.
Growth or diversification of market/economy.
Compare with Definitions
Contract
To become reduced in size.
The metal will contract when cooled.
Expand
To broaden the range of.
They expanded their product line.
Contract
To incur, as an obligation or liability.
She contracted a debt.
Expand
To increase in size, volume, or scope.
The balloon will expand when filled with air.
Contract
A contract is a legally binding document between at least two parties that defines and governs the rights and duties of the parties to an agreement. A contract is legally enforceable because it meets the requirements and approval of the law.
Expand
To open up, spread out, or be stretched out.
The universe continues to expand over time.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law.
Expand
To increase the size, volume, quantity, or scope of; enlarge
Expanded her store by adding a second room.
Contract
The writing or document containing such an agreement.
Expand
To express at length or in detail; enlarge on
Expanded his remarks afterward.
Contract
The branch of law dealing with formal agreements between parties.
Expand
To open (something) up or out; spread out
The bird expanded its wings and flew off.
Contract
Marriage as a formal agreement; betrothal.
Expand
(Mathematics) To write (a quantity) as a sum of terms in an extended form.
Contract
The last and highest bid of a suit in one hand in bridge.
Expand
To become greater in size, volume, quantity, or scope
Air expands when heated. This critic's influence is expanding.
Contract
The number of tricks thus bid.
Expand
To speak or write at length or in detail
Expand on a favorite topic.
Contract
Contract bridge.
Expand
To open up or out; unfold
The chair expands to form a daybed.
Contract
A paid assignment to murder someone
Put out a contract on the mobster's life.
Expand
(transitive) To change (something) from a smaller form or size to a larger one; to spread out or lay open.
You can expand this compact umbrella to cover a large table.
Contract
To enter into by contract; establish or settle by formal agreement
Contract a marriage.
Expand
(transitive) To increase the extent, number, volume or scope of (something).
A flower expands its leaves.
Contract
To acquire or incur
Contract obligations.
Contract a serious illness.
Expand
(transitive) To express (something) at length and/or in detail.
Contract
To reduce in size by drawing together; shrink.
Expand
To rewrite (an expression) as a longer, yet equivalent sum of terms.
Use the binomial theorem to expand .
Contract
To pull together; wrinkle.
Expand
To become, by rewriting, a longer, yet equivalent sum of terms.
The expression expands to .
Contract
(Grammar) To shorten (a word or words) by omitting or combining some of the letters or sounds, as do not to don't.
Expand
To multiply both the numerator and the denominator of a fraction by the same natural number yielding a fraction of equal value
Contract
To enter into or make an agreement
Contract for garbage collection.
Expand
(intransitive) To change or grow from smaller to larger in form, number, or size.
Many materials expand when heated.
This compact umbrella expands to cover a large table.
Contract
To become reduced in size by or as if by being drawn together
The pupils of the patient's eyes contracted.
Expand
(intransitive) To increase in extent, number, volume or scope.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
Marriage is a contract.
Sign a contract
Write up a contract
Read a contract
Countersign a contract
Legally-binding contract
Unwritten contract
Expand
(intransitive) To speak or write at length or in detail.
He expanded on his plans for the business.
Contract
(legal) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
Expand
(intransitive) To feel generous or optimistic.
Contract
(legal) The document containing such an agreement.
Expand
To lay open by extending; to open wide; to spread out; to diffuse; as, a flower expands its leaves.
Then with expanded wings he steers his flight.
Contract
(legal) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
Expand
To cause the particles or parts of to spread themselves or stand apart, thus increasing bulk without addition of substance; to make to occupy more space; to dilate; to distend; to extend every way; to enlarge; - opposed to contract; as, to expand the chest; heat expands all bodies; to expand the sphere of benevolence.
Contract
(informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.
The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him.
Expand
To state in enlarged form; to develop; as, to expand an equation. See Expansion, 5.
Contract
(bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.
Expand
To become widely opened, spread apart, dilated, distended, or enlarged; as, flowers expand in the spring; metals expand by heat; the heart expands with joy.
Contract
(obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
Expand
Extend in one or more directions;
The dough expands
Contract
(obsolete) Not abstract; concrete.
Expand
Become larger in size or volume or quantity;
His business expanded rapidly
Contract
(ambitransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
The snail’s body contracted into its shell.
To contract one’s sphere of action
Expand
Make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity;
Expand the house by adding another wing
Contract
(grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”.
Expand
Grow stronger;
The economy was booming
Contract
(transitive) To enter into a contract with. en
Expand
Exaggerate or make bigger;
The charges were inflated
Contract
(transitive) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
Expand
Add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing;
She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation
Contract
(intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.
To contract for carrying the mail
Expand
Expand the influence of;
The King extended his rule to the Eastern part of the continent
Contract
(transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.
She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.
To contract a debt
Expand
To express in fuller form or detail.
She wants to expand on her initial idea.
Contract
(transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
Expand
To grow or increase in number, amount, or strength.
The company plans to expand its operations overseas.
Contract
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Contract
To betroth; to affiance.
Contract
To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.
In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties.
Contract
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.
Contract
To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.
Each from each contract new strength and light.
Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station.
Contract
To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen.
Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law.
Contract
To betroth; to affiance.
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us.
Contract
To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
Contract
To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.
Years contracting to a moment.
Contract
To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
Contract
Contracted; as, a contract verb.
Contract
Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
Contract
The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights.
Contract
A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
Contract
The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.
This is the the night of the contract.
Contract
A binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law
Contract
(contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make
Contract
A variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid
Contract
Enter into a contractual arrangement
Contract
Engage by written agreement;
They signed two new pitchers for the next season
Contract
Squeeze or press together;
She compressed her lips
The spasm contracted the muscle
Contract
Become smaller or draw together;
The fabric shrank
The balloon shrank
Contract
Be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness;
He got AIDS
She came down with pneumonia
She took a chill
Contract
Make smaller;
The heat contracted the woollen garment
Contract
Compress or concentrate;
Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan
Contract
Make or become more narrow or restricted;
The selection was narrowed
The road narrowed
Contract
Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
The manuscript must be shortened
Contract
To enter into a formal agreement with specific terms.
They decided to contract with the vendor for services.
Contract
In medicine, to become affected by (a disease or disorder).
He contracted pneumonia during the winter.
Contract
A tightening or shortening, often referring to muscles.
The heart contracts to pump blood.
Common Curiosities
Can a market contract?
Yes, a market can contract, indicating it's shrinking or receding.
What causes materials to expand?
Often, materials expand due to heat or increased pressure.
Can "expand" refer to detailing ideas?
Yes, "expand" can mean to express something in greater detail.
How is "expand" used in the context of business?
In business, "expand" often refers to growth, diversification, or broadening market reach.
Do muscles expand or contract when in action?
Muscles contract or shorten when they are activated.
Can emotions cause the heart to contract differently?
Emotions can affect heart rate, potentially causing the heart to contract faster or slower.
How does decompression relate to expansion?
Decompression can cause materials or gases to expand due to the reduced pressure.
How does cold temperature affect most materials?
Cold temperatures often cause materials to contract or shrink.
Can "contract" refer to formal agreements?
Yes, to "contract" can mean to enter into a formal agreement with specific terms.
What happens to the lungs during inhalation?
During inhalation, lungs expand to accommodate air.
What is the primary difference between contract and expand?
"Contract" refers to becoming smaller, while "expand" means becoming larger.
Are contract and expand only used in physical contexts?
No, they can be used in various contexts including business, economics, and personal development.
Are "contract" and "expand" always opposites?
In the context of size and volume, they are opposites, but each has other meanings as well.
Can "expand" relate to the universe?
Yes, it's believed that the universe is continuously expanding over time.
Can a company contract its services?
Yes, a company can contract its services, meaning it enters into a formal agreement to provide them.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
