The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word COMPRESS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
O
M
P
R
E
S
S
More clues leading to the result COMPRESS
- Management of image in muddle after firm gets contract
- Fellow paparazzi stifling Jim’s latest squeeze
- Politician breaking hearts with start of spending squeeze
- Pad or shorten?
- Arrive shortly before media pack
- Crush about 1,000 rotten corpses
- It’s soothing when you have to concentrate
- Pad or shorten a story?
- Purse with zip
- Concentrate politicians in part of the Dodecanese
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 = compress.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 COMPRESS mean?
COMPRESS verb- To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.
- To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
- To condense into a more economic, easier format.
- To abridge.
- To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
- To embrace sexually.
- A multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury.
- A machine for compressing