實體的收縮
核心畫面本身：泛指變小變窄的過程，以及它在身體裡最有感的那一種。
shrinking · noun · B1
The process of becoming smaller or narrower.
收縮
核心畫面
You can picture something being pulled in towards its own middle: a sponge squeezed, a balloon losing air, a piece of metal cooling down. The edges move inward and the whole thing takes up less room than before.
可以想成一個東西被往自己的中心拉進去：海綿被握緊、氣球洩了氣、金屬冷卻。邊緣往內收，整體佔的空間比剛才小。
From the word’s history
From Latin contrahere 'to draw several objects together, draw in, shorten', from com- 'together' + trahere 'to draw'. The grammar sense (a shortened word form) is recorded from 1706.
來自拉丁文 contrahere：com-「一起」＋ trahere「拉」，字面是「把幾樣東西拉到一起、拉進來、縮短」。這條「往內拉」的線把三個意思串了起來：肌肉往內收、體積往內縮、連字也可以被拉短——文法上的縮寫用法從 1706 年開始有紀錄。
Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/contraction
Two branches
把字拉短
這次往內縮的是字：中間的音被擠掉，兩個字被拉成一個，留下的縫用一撇補上。
shortened word form · noun · A2
A shorter form of a word or words, often written with an apostrophe.
縮寫；縮約形式
原始詞典資料13 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
contractionnoun/kənˈtɹækʃn̩/
- 1
Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
- Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
- 2
archaicSenses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
- 3
biologymedicinenatural-sciencesSenses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
- the contraction of malaria
- Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest – given most worked outside – that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause. And it was the latter point that was proven.
- 4
archaicobsoleteSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- 5
biologymedicinenatural-sciencesSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- 6
biologymedicinenatural-sciencesSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.
- 7
economicssciencesSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- The country’s economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
- 8
human-scienceslinguisticssciencesSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.
另外 5 個記錄的用法
- 9
communicationsjournalismliteratureSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.
- You would not use "it's" in this case / As a possessive (No, no, no) / It's a contraction (Yeah, ye)
- 10
human-scienceslinguisticsphonologySenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- 11
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- 12
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- 13
obsoleterareSenses relating to pulling together or shortening.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。