What is "contractility"

Contractility \Con`trac*til"i*ty\, n.

1. The quality or property by which bodies shrink or contract.

2. (Physiol.) The power possessed by the fibers of living muscle of contracting or shortening.

   Note: When subject to the will, as in the muscles of locomotion, such power is called voluntary contractility; when not controlled by the will, as in the muscles of the heart, it is involuntary contractility.

n. 1 The condition of being able to contract or shrink (used especially of muscles) 2 The extent to which something contracts or shrinks 3 A term used in physiology to describe the performance of cardiac muscle

n. the capability or quality of shrinking or contracting, especially by muscle fibers and even some other forms of living matter

Contractility refers to the ability for self-contraction, especially of the muscles, or similar active biological tissue:

• Muscle contraction
  • Myocardial contractility
• Contractile vacuole
• Contractile ring in cytokinesis
• see contractile cell for an overview of cell types in humans