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sited, or pledged, to make certain the fulfillment of an obligation, the performance of a contract, the payment of a debt, or the like; surety; pledge. Those who lent him money lent it on no security but his bare word. Macaulay.

A contraction of shall not. [Colloq.]

than the rude Irish. Spenser. The soldiers were sharply assailed with wants. Hayward. You contract your eye when you would see sharply. Bacon.

aid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular. [Cant, U.S.] N. Biddle.

The sudden convulsion or contraction of the muscles, with the feeling of a concussion, caused by the discharge, through the animal system, of electricity from a charged body.

Engaging or engaged to deliver what is not possessed; as, short contracts; to be short of stock. See The shorts, under Short, n., and To sell short, under Short, adv.

reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc. Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. Dryden.

To contract; to shrink. [Obs.]

To wrinkle, bend, or curl; to shrivel; hence, to contract into a less extent or compass; to gather together; to become compacted. And on a broken reed he still did stay His feeble steps, which shrunk when hard thereon he lay. Spenser. I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room.…

The act of shrinking; a contraction into less bulk or measurement.

To cause to shrivel or contract; to cause to shrink onto corruptions.

To draw up or contract (the shoulders), especially by way of expressing dislike, dread, doubt, or the like. He shrugs his shoulders when you talk of securities. Addison.

ng of a single individual or zooid; as, a simple ascidian; -- opposed to compound. Simple contract (Law), any contract, whether verbal or written, which is not of record or under seal. J. W. Smith. Chitty. -- Simple equation (Alg.), an eqyation containing but one unknown quantity, and that quantity only in the first d…

Contraction of Skimming and Skimmed. Skim coat, the final or finishing coat of plaster. -- Skim colter, a colter for paring off the surface of land. -- Skim milk, skimmed milk; milk from which the cream has been taken.

A contraction of Soph ister. [Colloq.]

Inclosing an extended space; having large or ample room; not contracted or narrow; capacious; roomy; as, spacious bounds; a spacious church; a spacious hall. -- Spa"cious*ly, adv. -- Spa"cious*ness, n.

Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time. Yet not to earth's contracted span Thy goodness let me bound. Pope. Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy. Farquhar.

An involuntary and unnatural contraction of one or more muscles or muscular fibers.

by a stoppage of brathing developed suddenly and without fever, and produced by spasmodic contraction of the vocal cords. It is sometimes fatal. Called also laryngismus stridulus, and childcrowing. -- Spasmodic stricture, a stricture caused by muscular spasm without structural change. See Organic stricture, under Orga…

A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified. Chitty. Bouvier. Wharton (Law Dict.). Let specialties be therefore drawn between us. Shak.