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contractile

[ kuhn-trak-tl, -til ]

adjective

  1. capable of contracting or causing contraction.


contractile

/ ˌkɒntrækˈtɪlɪtɪ; kənˈtræktaɪl /

adjective

  1. having the power to contract or to cause contraction
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • contractility, noun
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Other Words From

  • con·trac·til·i·ty [kon-trak-, til, -i-tee], noun
  • un·con·trac·tile adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of contractile1

First recorded in 1700–10; contract + -ile
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Example Sentences

Now, researchers have gotten up-close views of these syringes, technically known as contractile injection systems, from a type of cyanobacteria and a marine bacterium.

But, “just by looking at the genes, it’s quite hard to predict how these contractile injection systems work,” says Gregor Weiss, a cellular structural biologist at ETH Zurich.

Waste nitrogenous products formed within the cell when work is done are passed out by means of the contractile vacuole.

In another one-celled animal called vorticella, part of the cell has become elongated and is contractile.

The body of the Uterus is formed of a very dense, gray colored, muscular substance, possessing astonishing contractile power.

The supple and contractile segments of the chrysalis serve for the limbs which are wanting to it.

Rostrif′era, a suborder of gasteropods, with contractile rostrum or snout.

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contract furniturecontractile vacuole