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contraction

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contraction

The shortening of two words into one, where an apostrophe is used in place of the omitted letter or letters (I'm, aren't); or the abbreviation of a word to its first and last letters (Mr, St for ‘mister’, ‘street’, ‘saint’).

The use of contractions in written English (other than for dialogue) usually indicates a colloquial or familiar style.



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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
A violent contraction of the lunar crust, while cooling, might suffice to imprint this gigantic star.
Instances of lengthening are,--{pi omicron lambda eta omicron sigma} for {pi omicron lambda epsilon omega sigma}, and {Pi eta lambda eta iota alpha delta epsilon omega} for {Pi eta lambda epsilon iota delta omicron upsilon}: of contraction,--{kappa rho iota}, {delta omega}, and
It is not the thickness of the fog; it is rather a contraction of the horizon, a mysterious veiling of the shores with clouds that seem to make a low-vaulted dungeon around the running ship.
 
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