Fracture
Fracture (?; 135) , noun
[Latin fractura, from frangere, fractum, to break: compare French fracture. See Fraction.]
1.
The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
2.
(Surgery) The breaking of a bone.
3.
(Mineralogy) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture.
Collocations (4)
Comminuted fracture (Surgery) , a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts.
Complicated fracture (Surgery) , a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint.
Compound fracture (Surgery) , a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture.
Simple fracture (Surgery) , a fracture in which the bone only is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by an open wound.
Fracture (?; 135) , transitive verb
[Compare French 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.