Contractile

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           The heart's contractile force.           --H. Brooke.
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           Each cilium seems to be composed of contractile
           substance.                               --Hixley.
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     {Contractile vacuole} (Zool.), a pulsating cavity in the
        interior of a protozoan, supposed to be excretory in
        function. There may be one, two, or more.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  contractile
       adj : capable of contracting or being contracted; "the contractile
             wings of an insect"