4 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

fracture

noun

1: breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall" [syn: {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" [syn: {fault}, {geological fault}, {shift}, {break}]

3: the act of cracking something [syn: {crack}, {cracking}]

verb

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: {break}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Fracture \Frac"ture\ (?; 135), noun [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.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Fracture \Frac"ture\ (?; 135), verb (used with an object) [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.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

179 Moby Thesaurus words for "fracture": 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

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