Adjacent Words

Fracture definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FRAC'TURE, n. [L. fractura. See Break.]
1. A breach in any body, especially a breach caused by violence; a rupture of a solid body.
2. In surgery, the rupture or disruption of a bone. A fracture is simple or compound; simple, when the bone only is divided; compound, when the bone is broken, with a laceration of the integuments.
3. In mineralogy, the manner in which a mineral breaks, and by which its texture is displayed; as a compact fracture; a fibrous fracture; foliated, striated or conchoidal fracture, etc.
FRAC'TURE, v.t. To break; to burst asunder; to crack; to separate continuous parts; as, to fracture a bone; to fracture the skull.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall" [syn: fracture, break]
2: (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust" [syn: fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break]
3: the act of cracking something [syn: fracture, crack, cracking] v
1: violate or abuse; "This writer really fractures the language"
2: interrupt, break, or destroy; "fracture the balance of power"
3: break into pieces; "The pothole fractured a bolt on the axle"
4: become fractured; "The tibia fractured from the blow of the iron pipe"
5: break (a bone); "She broke her clavicle"
6: fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey" [syn: fracture, break]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin fractura, from fractus Date: 15th century 1. the result of fracturing ; break 2. a. the act or process of breaking or the state of being broken; especially the breaking of hard tissue (as bone) b. the rupture (as by tearing) of soft tissue <kidney fracture> 3. the general appearance of a freshly broken surface of a mineral II. verb (fractured; fracturing) Date: 1612 transitive verb 1. a. to cause a fracture in ; break <fracture a rib> b. rupture, tear 2. a. to damage or destroy as if by rupturing b. to cause great disorder in c. to break up ; fractionate d. to go beyond the limits of (as rules) ; violate <fractured the English language with malaprops — Goodman Ace> intransitive verb to undergo fracture

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a breakage or breaking, esp. of a bone or cartilage. b the result of breaking; a crack or split. 2 the surface appearance of a freshly broken rock or mineral. 3 Linguistics a the substitution of a diphthong for a simple vowel owing to an influence esp. of a following consonant. b a diphthong substituted in this way. --v.intr. & tr. 1 Med. undergo or cause to undergo a fracture. 2 break or cause to break. Etymology: ME f. F fracture or f. L fractura (as FRACTION)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fracture Frac"ture (?; 135), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fractured (#; 135); p. pr. & vb. n.. Fracturing.] [Cf. F. fracturer.] To cause a fracture or fractures in; to break; to burst asunder; to crack; to separate the continuous parts of; as, to fracture a bone; to fracture the skull.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fracture Frac"ture (?; 135), n. [L. fractura, fr. frangere, fractum, to break: cf. F. fracture. See Fraction.] 1. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach. 2. (Surg.) The breaking of a bone. 3. (Min.) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture. Comminuted fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts. Complicated fracture (Surg.), a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint. Compound fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture. Simple fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone only is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by an open wound. Syn: Fracture, Rupture. Usage: These words denote different kinds of breaking, according to the objects to which they are applied. Fracture is applied to hard substances; as, the fracture of a bone. Rupture is oftener applied to soft substances; as, the rupture of a blood vessel. It is also used figuratively. ``To be an enemy and once to have been a friend, does it not embitter the rupture?'' --South.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(fractures, fracturing, fractured) 1. A fracture is a slight crack or break in something, especially a bone. At least one-third of all women over ninety have sustained a hip fracture. N-COUNT 2. If something such as a bone is fractured or fractures, it gets a slight crack or break in it. You've fractured a rib, maybe more than one... One strut had fractured and been crudely repaired in several places... He suffered a fractured skull. VERB: V n, V, V-ed 3. If something such as an organization or society is fractured or fractures, it splits into several parts or stops existing. (FORMAL) His policy risks fracturing the coalition... It might be a society that could fracture along class lines. VERB: V n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Breaking, rupture. 2. Break, crack, breach, cleft, fissure, rift, flaw, rent, opening.

Moby Thesaurus

abrade, abrasion, abysm, abyss, amuse, arroyo, bark, beguile, blemish, bloody, box canyon, breach, break, break open, break up, breakage, breaking, burn, burst, bust, canyon, cavity, chafe, chap, chasm, check, chimney, chink, chip, claw, cleavage, cleave, cleft, cleuch, clough, col, come apart, come unstuck, concussion, convulse, coulee, couloir, crack, crackle, cranny, craze, crevasse, crevice, cut, cut apart, cwm, defile, delight, dell, dike, disintegrate, ditch, divert, division, donga, draw, enliven, entertain, excavation, exfoliate, exhilarate, fall to pieces, fault, fissure, flash burn, flaw, flume, fracture one, fray, frazzle, fret, furrow, gall, gap, gape, gash, give away, give way, gorge, groove, gulch, gulf, gully, hole, hurt, incise, incision, injure, injury, joint, kill, kloof, knock dead, lacerate, laceration, leak, lesion, loosen up, maim, make mincemeat of, maul, moat, mortal wound, mutilate, mutilation, notch, nullah, open, opening, pass, passage, pierce, puncture, raise a laugh, raise a smile, ravine, recreate, refresh, regale, relax, rend, rent, rift, rime, rip, rive, run, rupture, savage, scald, scale, schism, scissure, scorch, scotch, scrape, scratch, scuff, seam, second-degree burn, separate, separation, skin, slash, slay, slice, slit, slot, snap, solace, sore, splinter, split, sprain, spring a leak, stab, stab wound, start, stick, strain, tear, third-degree burn, tickle, titillate, trauma, traumatize, trench, valley, void, wadi, wound, wounds immedicable, wow, wrench