fracture

American  

[frak-cher] / ˈfræk tʃər /

noun

• fractures
  plural

1. the breaking of a bone, cartilage, or the like, or the resulting condition.

2. the act of breaking; state of being broken.

3. a break, breach, or split.

4. the characteristic manner of breaking.

   a material of unpredictable fracture.

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

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verb (used with object)

• fractures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fractured,
  past participle,  past
• fracturing
  present participle

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

2. to break or crack.

   Synonyms:

   split, rupture, splinter, shatter, smash

3. Slang. to amuse highly or cause to laugh heartily; delight.

   The new comic really fractured the audience.

verb (used without object)

• fractures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fractured,
  past participle,  past
• fracturing
  present participle

1. to become fractured; break.

   a mineral that does not fracture easily.

fracture British  

/ ˈfræktʃə /

noun

1. the act of breaking or the state of being broken

2. 1. the breaking or cracking of a bone or the tearing of a cartilage

   2. the resulting condition See also Colles' fracture comminuted fracture compound fracture greenstick fracture impacted

3. a division, split, or breach

4. mineralogy

   1. the characteristic appearance of the surface of a freshly broken mineral or rock

   2. the way in which a mineral or rock naturally breaks

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verb

1. to break or cause to break; split

2. to break or crack (a bone) or (of a bone) to become broken or cracked

3. to tear (a cartilage) or (of a cartilage) to become torn

fracture Scientific  

/ frăk′chər /

1. A break or rupture in bone tissue.

2. ◆ A comminuted fracture results in more than two fragments.

3. ◆ Although most fractures are caused by a direct blow or sudden, twisting force, stress fractures result from repetitive physical activity.

4. ◆ In an incomplete fracture, the fracture line does not completely traverse the bone.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fracturer
  noun
• refracture
  verb
• fracturable
  adjective
• fractural
  adjective
• postfracture
  adjective
• refracturable
  adjective
• unfractured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fractures
  plural

Participles

• fracturing
  present
• fractured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fracture
  simple
• fractures
  simple
• have fractured
  perfect
• has fractured
  perfect
• am fracturing
  progressive
• are fracturing
  progressive
• is fracturing
  progressive
• have been fracturing
  perfect progressive
• has been fracturing
  perfect progressive

Past

• fractured
  simple
• had fractured
  perfect
• was fracturing
  progressive
• were fracturing
  progressive
• had been fracturing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fracture
  simple
• will have fractured
  perfect
• will be fracturing
  progressive
• will have been fracturing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fracture

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin frāctūra “a breach, cleft, fracture,” from frāct(us) “broken” (past participle of frangere “to break, shatter”; see also break) + -ūra -ure

Explanation

Think of something hard breaking in a crisp, snapping manner, and you've just imagined a fracture. The word is most often applied to a broken bone, but it can used to describe any sharp, sudden break of something solid. The Latin frāctus means "broken," and its descendant fracture can mean any break, though it's most often associated with a hard — maybe even brittle — material, such as a bone, a rock, or the earth’s crust. When something softer is split we say it is torn. For example, when we say someone broke an arm, we are referring to the bone, not the muscle; we'd say the muscle is torn. When someone funny "breaks us up," we might say "you fracture me!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fracture fractures fractured fracturing

This deep ecumenical fracture won't be healed for some time after the war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

BBC Radio Merseyside reporter Giulia Bould says the influential Grealish is set to re-sign on loan towards the end of this window as he continues to rehabilitate from a stress fracture to his foot.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Half of Americans report feeling divided from one another; a recent Stanford study gives this fracture a sharper name: the “empathy perception gap.”

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Over time, those crystals may accumulate and block the fracture.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

I’ve come a long way since my hip fracture, and thank the Lord for that.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

He later suffered three back fractures, and to this day the pain is still there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

But there were no obvious bone fractures, open wounds or visible parasites.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Heated debates over slavery, the constitution and the economic and political system created clear fractures among the population.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Faults are fractures in rock layers that form when the Earth's crust is stressed or displaced.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

“The ice is arthritic, but no fractures yet,” he reported.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

The closeness of the race only underscores one of El-Sayed’s challenges going ahead: reuniting a fractured party after a bitter primary campaign.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026

Jesse Jerger, a concrete worker in Fargo, fractured his elbow and suffered permanent nerve damage when he fell off a wall during a construction job in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

The goal ruined a superhuman effort by Argentine keeper Emiliano Martínez, who made 11 saves while playing with a fractured right ring finger that will require surgery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Burnham takes over a fractured and fractious Labour Party, and the task of pulling it back together is enormous.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Chandresh asks when Marco reaches the suite that comprises the entire fifth story, each room lit by a multitude of Moroccan lanterns that cast fractured shadows over the opulent furniture.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

They also revealed dislocations moving from the layer interfaces into the surrounding CoAl layers, helping explain how the material could deform without quickly fracturing.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

Burning natural gas also causes significant air pollution in the form of nitric oxides, sulfur, mercury and particulates, while hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," can contaminate ground water supplies.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

The film also shows Maddox and her father in a vicious argument inside her car that illustrates the fracturing of their once-close bond.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

But while he finished a respectable fourth, he needed hospital treatment after fracturing a leg he had previously broken.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

She wondered how important it could be, though, when hers just seemed to keep fracturing into pieces.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

Related Words

• crack
• fissure
• wound