Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Contractile"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Contractile \Con*tract"ile\, a. [Cf. F. contractile.]
tending to contract; having the power or property of
contracting, or of shrinking into shorter or smaller
dimensions; as, the contractile tissues.
The heart's contractile force. --H. Brooke.
Each cilium seems to be composed of contractile
substance. --Hixley.
{Contractile vacuole} (Zo["o]l.), a pulsating cavity in the
interior of a protozoan, supposed to be excretory in
function. There may be one, two, or more.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
contractile
adj : capable of contracting or being contracted; "the contractile
wings of an insect"
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