The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word ABBREVIATE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
B
B
R
E
V
I
A
T
E
More clues leading to the result ABBREVIATE
- Shorten and reduce, holding one part of speech back
- Make shorter queen bees get up to fly around
- Beaver a bit to sort out contract
- Cut Beeb: air a TV broadcast
- Part of speech graduate brought back I had to shorten
- Cut, beaver, a bit flustered
- Bribe a vet with a new contract
- Cut short a book’s English verbatim translation that’s miles out
- Pilot holds second note after musician King is cut short
- Precis of two books about dissecting fly
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "contract" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case contract = abbreviate.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ABBREVIATE mean?
ABBREVIATE verb- To shorten by omitting parts or details.
- To speak or write in a brief manner.
- To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned.
- To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form.
- To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
- An abridgment.
- Abbreviated; abridged; shortened.
- Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.