Fracture /(?; 135)/

Frac·ture

Fracture

n.
  1. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
  2. The breaking of a bone. (Surg.)
  3. The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture. (Min.)

Phrases & Compounds
Comminuted fracture
a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts.
Complicated fracture
a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint.
Compound fracture
a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture.
Simple fracture
a fracture in which the bone only is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by an open wound.
Syn. -- Fracture, Rupture.

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?”

Fracture

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Fractured

  1. 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.