Obs. [a. F. contentif, -ive, that contains, retains (in mod.F. only in the surgical use, f. L. type *contentīv-us, f. continêre to CONTAIN: see -IVE and cf. retentive.] Characterized by containing, holding together, maintaining, etc. In Surg. see quot. 1882.
1677. Gale, Crt. Gentiles, II. IV. 443. His good wil is the effective, contentive and provisive Virtue.
1758. J. S., Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (1771), 144. I did not yet remove the contentive Compress.
1882. Syd. Soc. Lex., Contentive, the same as Retentive, applied to bandages which retain the lips of a wound, or the ends of fractured bones in apposition.
