See Also: Contact Air(tourism)
contact(1)(dictionary)
contact(2)(dictionary)
contact following(medicine)
Contact(medicine)
culture contact(encyclopedia)
CONTACT Resources Ltd(finance)
proximal contact(medicine)
premature contact(medicine)
microradiography, contact(medicine)

contact(1) (iou)



contact noun. E17.
[Latin contactus, from contact- pa. ppl stem of contingere touch closely, border on, formed as CON- + tangere touch. Cf. French contact.]
The state or condition of touching; an instance of touching. E17.
b. The touching of electrical conductors to permit the flow of current; a device for effecting this; each of the conductors involved. M19.
break contact, make contact.
Math. The touching of a straight line and a curve, of two curves, or of two surfaces. M17.
Meeting, communication. E19.
R. K. Narayan His lifelong contact with tough men had hardened him. V. Grissom I was in radio contact with..the helicopters which were on their way to pick me up.
a. A person who has been exposed to infection by proximity to someone suffering from an infectious disease. E20.
b. A person who can be called upon for assistance, information, etc.; a business etc. acquaintance who may be useful. M20.
= contact lens below. Usu. in pl. colloq. M20.
Phrases: come in contact with, come into contact with touch, meet, come across, be brought into communication with. SLIDING contact.
Comb.: contact breaker a contrivance for breaking an electric circuit automatically; contact flight, contact flying navigation of an aircraft by the observation of landmarks; contact healing Spiritualism the healing of illness by physical contact with a medium; contact herbicide: that affects a plant only when it comes into contact with it, not when it is taken up through the roots; contact lens a small glass or plastic lens placed on the surface of the eyeball to correct faulty vision; contact man a go-between; a man who carries or supplies information; contact metamorphism Geology: due to contact with or proximity to an igneous intrusion; contact print, contact-printing Photography a print made by, the making of prints by, passing light through a negative on to sensitized paper, glass, or film held in direct contact with the negative; contact process Chemistry: for making sulphuric acid by means of the oxidation of sulphur dioxide in the presence of a solid catalyst; contact screen a halftone screen made on a film base; contact sport a sport in which the participants necessarily come into bodily contact with one another.