The term 'Dickinson Contraction' refers to a poetic device used by the American poet Emily Dickinson. It is a type of elision, which is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase. In Dickinson's poetry, she often used contractions such as 'twas' (which is a contraction of 'it was') to create a more lyrical and poetic effect. This type of contraction is now known as a Dickinson Contraction.