fracture
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
fracture
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}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Surg.) The breaking of a bone.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Min.) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a
compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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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