Vocabulary
Contraction
English and Urdu gloss, synonyms and antonyms, and example usage from our editorial sentence cache where available.
English meaning
the process of becoming smaller.
Urdu meaning
اختصار، چھوٹا کرنے کا عمل، تنگی
Example sentences (from Dawn)
Sentences are selected from stored editorial text where your search word appears. If none appear yet, run the admin sentence generator for fuller coverage.
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The sustained export contraction heightens the risks to the nation`s external sector recovery as growing imports threaten to erode the gains achieved through demand compression over the past two years.
Dawn Editorials —
Export decline
— 2026-01-05
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But when juxtaposed with the sharp contraction in exports, it pushes the monthly trade deficit up by 25pc to $3.7bn.
Dawn Editorials —
Export decline
— 2026-01-05
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The downward momentum is particularly worrisome, as the decline in November marks the fourth consecutive monthly contraction since August this fiscal year; it exposes structural weaknesses in the fragile export sector.
Dawn Editorials —
Growing trade gap
— 2025-12-04
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Big industry has been stuck in a cycle of low growth or contraction for three years on the trot.
Dawn Editorials —
No easy path
— 2025-08-18
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The slower growth in LSM output mirrors the overall low growth of GDP, which expanded by just 2.7pc last year after swinging between contraction and modest growth in the previous two fiscal years.
Dawn Editorials —
No easy path
— 2025-08-18
Synonyms
shrinking, reduction in size, shrinkage, decline, decrease, diminution, dwindling
Antonyms
expansion, growth
Curator example
“the general contraction of the industry did further damage to morale”
More vocabulary to explore
About this vocabulary section.
These entries support close reading of Dawn editorials and opinion pieces: short definitions,
Urdu equivalents where we have them, word relations, and—when generated—real lines from the editorial archive
so you can see tone and usage.
Common questions
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- No. Word pages are open to everyone. You can read meanings in English and Urdu, synonyms and antonyms, and example sentences without creating an account.
- Where do the example sentences come from?
- When available, example sentences are drawn from cached matches in our Dawn editorial corpus so you can see how a word is used in real newsroom-style prose.
- How is this different from a dictionary?
- This section is curated for students preparing for competitive exams and editorial reading. Entries are compact, often include Urdu glosses, and are paired with in-context lines from editorials when we have them.
