fracture
A break or small crack in a bone in your body.
A break or crack in a bone, usually caused by injury, stress, or disease.
To break a bone in the body, often by falling or having an accident.
To cause a bone to break or crack.
A break or crack in a hard thing like rock, glass, or metal.
A break, crack, or separation in a hard material such as rock, concrete, metal, or glass.
To make a hard thing like rock, glass, or metal break or crack.
To cause a hard material such as rock, concrete, metal, or glass to break or crack.
A strong break in the unity of a group, when people in the group are no longer together.
A serious division or split within a group, organization, or society that damages unity.
To strongly damage the unity of a group, relationship, or system so that it is no longer together.
To seriously damage or break the unity, stability, or cohesion of a group, relationship, or system.
To make someone laugh very much with something funny.
To cause someone to laugh very hard, especially with a joke or funny remark. (Mainly in informal North American English; now somewhat dated.)
- Base: fracture
- Plural: fracture, fractures
- Base: fracture
- 3rd Person Singular: fractures
- Present Participle: fracturing
- Past: fractured
facial fracture
1break in facial bones
A broken bone in the face, such as in the nose, cheek, or jaw.
- The player suffered a facial fracture after the collision.
- Facial fractures often require surgery to repair.
fracture line
1visible path of a fracture
The line on a bone or material that shows where it has broken.
- The fracture line was clearly visible on the X-ray.
- The geologist traced the fracture line across the rock face.
fracture someone
1make someone laugh a lot
To make someone laugh very much, usually with something very funny that you say or do.
- That impression of the boss really fractures me.
- Her stories always fracture the whole room.
fracture toughness
1material’s resistance to cracking
A measure of how well a material can resist cracks growing and causing it to break.
- Engineers tested the fracture toughness of the new alloy.
- High fracture toughness is important for aircraft materials.
fracture toughness
1resistance to crack growth
(technical) how hard it is for a crack to spread
- This alloy has high fracture toughness, so cracks spread more slowly.
- The lab measured fracture toughness at different temperatures.
- Designers choose materials based on strength and fracture toughness.
fragility fracture
1low-energy break in weak bone
A broken bone that happens after a small fall or simple action because the bones are weak, often from osteoporosis.
- Hip fractures in older adults are often called fragility fractures.
- The doctor said her wrist injury was a fragility fracture linked to bone loss.
greenstick fracture
1partial bend-and-crack bone break
A kind of break in a child’s bone where one side bends and cracks but the bone does not break all the way through.
- Children often get greenstick fractures because their bones are softer.
- The pediatrician explained that it was only a greenstick fracture.
hairline fracture
1very small crack in a bone
A very thin, small break in a bone that can be hard to see on an X-ray.
- The X-ray revealed a tiny hairline fracture in his ankle.
- Runners often get hairline fractures from repeated stress on their legs.
open fracture
1fracture with open wound
A broken bone where there is a cut in the skin over the break, so the bone and wound are open.
- An open fracture carries a high risk of infection.
- Paramedics treated the open fracture before moving the patient.
pathologic fracture
1bone break from disease
A broken bone that happens because of a disease in the bone, not mainly because of an accident or big force.
- Cancer can weaken bones and lead to pathologic fractures.
- The X-ray suggested a pathologic fracture through a bone tumor.
pelvic fracture
1break in pelvic bones
A broken bone in the pelvis, the ring of bones near the hips.
- The car accident resulted in a pelvic fracture.
- Older adults with pelvic fractures often need long rehabilitation.
simple fracture
1closed, basic bone break
A broken bone that is clean and does not break the skin.
- The X-ray showed a simple fracture of the radius.
- He was relieved to hear it was only a simple fracture.
spiral fracture
1twisting break around a bone
A broken bone where the line of the break goes around the bone in a spiral because of a twisting force.
- He suffered a spiral fracture of the tibia during the tackle.
- Spiral fractures are often caused by twisting injuries.
stress fracture
1bone crack from repeated stress
A small crack in a bone that happens because of repeated pressure or use, not from one big accident.
- She developed a stress fracture in her foot from long-distance running.
- Soldiers are at risk of stress fractures during intense training.
compound fracture
1broken bone through the skin
A serious broken bone where the bone comes through the skin.
- The X-ray showed that he had suffered a compound fracture of the leg.
- The motorcyclist suffered a compound fracture of the lower leg.
- She was rushed to hospital with a compound fracture after the accident.
- Compound fractures usually require urgent surgery.
- Compound fractures require immediate medical treatment to prevent infection.
compression fracture
1bone fracture from being crushed
A type of broken bone where the bone is squeezed and crushed, often in the spine.
- The elderly patient suffered a compression fracture in her lower spine.
- Osteoporosis can lead to compression fractures in the spine.
- Osteoporosis increases the risk of compression fractures.
- The fall caused a compression fracture of one of his vertebrae.
- He wore a brace while his compression fracture healed.