'Contractile' definitions:
Definition of 'contractile'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Capable of contracting or being contracted; "the contractile wings of an insect"
Definition of 'Contractile'
From: 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. [1913 Webster]
- Each cilium seems to be composed of contractile substance. --Hixley. [1913 Webster]
- 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]