the act or state of touching or of being near enough to touch:[uncountable]The rear wheels lost contact with the road.
the act or state of being in communication:[uncountable]The pilot of the plane lost contact with the control tower.[in + ~]still in contact with my high school friends.
a person who can gain access to favors, influential people, etc.:[countable]had a contact down at city hall.
Electricity a part of an electric circuit that joins electric conductors, used for completing or interrupting a circuit:[countable]The reason for the power failure was that some contacts were worn and failed to complete a circuit.
the act or state of touching; a touching or meeting, as of two things or people.
immediate proximity or association.
an acquaintance, colleague, or relative through whom a person can gain access to information, favors, influential people, and the like.
Electricitya junction of electric conductors, usually metal, that controls current flow, often completing or interrupting a circuit.
Geologythe interface, generally a planar surface, between strata that differ in lithology or age.
Medicinea person who has lately been exposed to an infected person.
Sociologya condition in which two or more individuals or groups are placed in communication with each other. Cf. categoric contact, primary contact, secondary contact, sympathetic contact.
See contact lens.
v.t.
to put or bring into contact.
to communicate with:We'll contact you by mail or telephone.
v.i.
to enter into or be in contact.
adj.
involving or produced by touching or proximity:contact allergy.
*contag-, variant stem of contingere to touch (con-con- + -tingere, combining form of tangere to touch) + -tus suffix of verb, verbal action; compare tango,attain
Latin contāctus a touching, equivalent. to contāc-
Many verbs in English have derived from nouns. One can head an organization or toe the mark; butter the bread or bread the cutlet. Hence, grammatically at least, there is no historical justification for the once frequently heard criticism of contact used as a verb meaning "to communicate with'':The managing editor contacted each reporter personally.Despite the earlier objections to it and probably largely because there is no other one-word verb in the language to express the same idea, this use of contact has become standard in all types of speech and writing. Contact as a noun meaning "a person through whom one can gain access to information and the like'' is also standard:My contact at the embassy says that the coup has been successful.