Definition: contact

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

contact
     n 1: close interaction: "they kept in daily contact"; "they
          claimed that they had been in contact with
          extraterrestrial beings"
     2: the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate
        proximity: "litmus paper turns red on contact with an
        acid"
     3: the act of touching physically; "her fingers came in contact
        with the light switch"
     4: the physical coming together of two or more things; "contact
        with the pier scraped paint from the hull" [syn: impinging,
         striking]
     5: a person who is in a position to give you special
        assistance; "he used his business contacts to get an
        introduction to the governor" [syn: middleman]
     6: a channel for communication between groups; "he provided a
        liaison with the guerrillas" [syn: liaison, link, inter-group
        communication]
     7: a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch
        or are in physical contact; "they forget to solder the
        contacts" [syn: tangency]
     8: a communicative interaction; "the pilot made contact with
        the base"; "he got in touch with his colleagues" [syn: touch]
     v 1: be in communication with, establish communication with; "Our
          advertisements reach millions"; "He never contacted his
          children after he emigrated to Australia" [syn: reach,
           get through, get hold of]
     2: be in direct physical contact with; make contact; "The two
        buildings touch"; "Their hands touched"; "The wire must
        not contact the metal cover"; "The surfaces contact at
        this point" [syn: touch, adjoin, meet]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Contact \Con"tact\, n. [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum,
   to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]
   1. A close union or junction of bodies; a touching or
      meeting.

   2. (Geom.) The property of two curves, or surfaces, which
      meet, and at the point of meeting have a common direction.

   3. (Mining) The plane between two adjacent bodies of
      dissimilar rock. --Raymond.

   Contact level, a delicate level so pivoted as to tilt when
      two parts of a measuring apparatus come into contact with
      each other; -- used in precise determinations of lengths
      and in the accurate graduation of instruments.