Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

fracture

[frak-cher]

noun

the breaking of a bone, cartilage, or the like, or the resulting condition. Compare comminuted fracture, complete fracture, compound fracture, greenstick fracture, simple fracture.

the act of breaking; state of being broken.

a break, breach, or split.

the characteristic manner of breaking: a material of unpredictable fracture.

the characteristic appearance of a broken surface, as of a mineral.

verb (used with object)

to cause or to suffer a fracture in (a bone, etc.).

to break or crack.

Slang. to amuse highly or cause to laugh heartily; delight: The new comic really fractured the audience.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Fracture is always a great word to know.

So is hot seat. Does it mean:

a highly uncomfortable or embarrassing situation

speech or writing that is false or worthless; rubbish

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

to become fractured; break: a mineral that does not fracture easily.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin frāctūra a breach, cleft, fracture, equivalent to frāct(us) (past participle of frangere to break) + -ūra -ure

Related forms

frac·tur·a·ble, adjective

frac·tur·al, adjective

frac·tur·er, noun

post·frac·ture, adjective, noun

re·frac·tur·a·ble, adjective

EXPAND

re·frac·ture, verb, -tured, -tur·ing.

un·frac·tured, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
7. smash, shatter, splinter, rupture, split.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To fracture

Example Sentences

Hip fracture surgery is done to repair a break in the upper part of the thigh bone.

Differences and tensions both drive and fracture the movement.

Meanwhile, southern rebel leaders have allowed their movement to fracture along ethnic lines.

EXPAND

Hip fracture surgery is done to repair a break in the upper part of the thigh bone.

Differences and tensions both drive and fracture the movement.

Meanwhile, southern rebel leaders have allowed their movement to fracture along ethnic lines.

The scans revealed a skull fracture caused by blunt force trauma.

To recover the heat, the project's operators would have needed to fracture the rock and circulate water through it.

In general, include the joint above and below the fracture in the splint.

The latest work suggests that smoking robs the bones of their mineral density, making them more likely to fracture.

Often follows a fall with fracture that needs surgical repair.

Trying to fracture society into different groups that cannot easily communicate with each other is counterproductive.

Another way sinkholes can form is if water enlarges a natural fracture in a limestone bedrock layer.

Medical science has known for some time that the direction of a bone fracture depends on how quickly the bone is compressed.

Fracture through the transverse process at this level.

The older you are the more likely you are to die from complications of hip fracture.

Their society might fracture if there's religious pluralism.

The quick pileup overloads the underlying snowpack, which causes a weak layer beneath the slab to fracture.

If fracking is defined as a single fracture of deep shale, that action might be benign.

He lay there last night in a serious condition, suffering from a depressed fracture of the skull.

There are thrust faults, which are usually the strongest in terms of earthquakes when they fracture.

But in some cases cats' lungs collapse or their ribs fracture due to difficulty breathing.

The organs appeared much clearer, and the skull fracture she initially detected was far more severe than she originally thought.

Kwan's stress fracture is located in the second toe on her left foot.

Biofuels are, at best, a bandaid on a compound fracture.

These shoes help me on my way to my first stress fracture.

Unlike conventional geothermal, you now have to find rock which you can also fracture.

The head of the girl rested upon a jagged rock, and there was a fracture of the skull near the base of the brain.

They then produced a model to estimate pore pressure and fracture pressure, and calculated the mud pressure accordingly.

He was arrested nine times, deported once, and suffered bubonic plague and a stress fracture.

Death was due to a comminuted fracture of the right side of the skull.

Teriparatide is usually recommended for patients with osteoporosis who are at high risk of fracture.

Anderson has a fracture of the navicular bone, a boat-shaped bone in the wrist.

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease in which bones become brittle and prone to fracture.

People are often able to walk even if a foot bone has been fractured, particularly if it is a chipped bone or a toe fracture.

With detail of continental slopes, fracture zones, and seamounts.

Researchers speculated that if a fracture of the first leg was detected, catastrophe could be averted.

Faced with this stress fracture in their funding structures, banks have two obvious ways to respond.

Violent bouncing of a water droplet coated with oil causes the oil layer to move inside and fracture into many oily globs.

Now is the winter of our dislocated kneeAnd our broken arm and our separated shoulder and our unstable fracture of the fibula.

High pressure water is pumped down the hole to fracture the granite along naturally occurring planes of weakness.

The crater rim's instability caused the limestone to fracture along the rim, forming the trough.

Moreover, as families mingle and fracture over generations, ownership becomes diluted along with the bloodline.

Any further away and their orchestra seems doomed to fracture into a mere bunch of individual.

In addition, acidic rain or groundwater can enlarge a natural fracture in a limestone bedrock layer to form a sinkhole.

In the case of that skull fracture from the other day, it did.

Once you lose your footing it is easy to fall and break your back, your tongue, your head or fracture your bones.

The fracture was said to be from a fall, and the body offered no contradictions.

She has a stress fracture in her left foot and a sore.

Subsequently she had problems with one of her eyes and also a fracture to her skull.

The petrification is so perfect that the skull plainly shows a fracture as if made by a heavy weapon.

Hakes is in a critical condition, the fracture of his skull having proved even more serious than was at first supposed.

Many times, a person will have a fracture before becoming aware that the disease is present.

Death was due to a fracture of the skull at the base of the brain.

Bowie complained recently of a recur ring pain, and a new examination revealed the fracture.

Jackson had a serious fall which resulted in a fracture of the knee.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

fracture (ˈfræktʃə)

—n
1.	the act of breaking or the state of being broken
2.	a. the breaking or cracking of a bone or the tearing of a cartilage
	b. Colles' fracture comminuted fracture compound fracture greenstick fracture See also impacted the resulting condition
3.	a division, split, or breach
4.	mineralogy
	a. the characteristic appearance of the surface of a freshly broken mineral or rock
	b. the way in which a mineral or rock naturally breaks

—vb
5.	to break or cause to break; split
6.	to break or crack (a bone) or (of a bone) to become broken or cracked
7.	to tear (a cartilage) or (of a cartilage) to become torn

[C15: from Old French, from Latin fractūra, from frangere to break]

'fracturable

—*adj*

'fractural

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fracture

1520s, "a breaking of a bone," from M.Fr. fracture, from L. fractura "a breach, break, cleft" (c.1500), from root of frangere "to break" (see fraction). The verb is first recorded 1610s. Related: Fractured; fracturing.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

fracture frac·ture (frāk'chər)
n.

The act or process of breaking.
A break, rupture, or crack, especially in bone or cartilage.

v.
To cause to break.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

fracture

$fracture pronunciation$

(frāk'chər) Pronunciation Key
A break or rupture in bone tissue. ◇ A comminuted fracture results in more than two fragments. ◇ Although most fractures are caused by a direct blow or sudden, twisting force, stress fractures result from repetitive physical activity. ◇ In an incomplete fracture, the fracture line does not completely traverse the bone.

Slang Dictionary

fracture definition

tv.
to cause someone to laugh very hard. : Now, this joke'll fracture you.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for fracture?
How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

compound fracture incomplete fracture march fracture open fracture Pott's fracture stress fracture

Quote Of The Day

"For all the injustices in our past and our present, we have to believe that in the free exchange of ideas, justice will prevail over injustice, tolerance over intolerance and progress over reaction."

-Hillary Rodham Clinton

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help