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comminute

[kom-uh-noot, -nyoot]
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verb (used with object), com·mi·nut·ed, com·mi·nut·ing.
  1. to pulverize; triturate.
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adjective
  1. comminuted; divided into small parts.
  2. powdered; pulverized.
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Origin of comminute

1620–30; < Latin comminūtus, past participle of comminuere, equivalent to com- com- + minuere to lessen, akin to minor minor
Related formscom·mi·nu·tion, nounun·com·mi·nut·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for comminuted

Historical Examples

  • He then proceeded to ascertain the effect of substances previously comminuted.

    Delineations of the Ox Tribe

    George Vasey

  • Transfer the comminuted oyster and the liquor to the cylinder.

  • He had a broken leg: a frightful smash it was: compound and comminuted.

    At the Court of the Amr

    John Alfred Gray

  • Hawaii crashed like a meteor into America and was comminuted and absorbed.

    The Pacific Triangle

    Sydney Greenbie

  • Fractures are divided into comminuted, simple, and compound.

    The Dog

    Dinks, Mayhew, and Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for comminuted

comminute

verb
  1. to break (a bone) into several small fragments
  2. to divide (property) into small lots
  3. (tr) to pulverize
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Derived Formscomminution, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Latin comminuere, from com- (intensive) + minuere to reduce; related to minor
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for comminuted

comminute

v.

1620s, from Latin comminutus, past participle of comminuere "to lessen, break into smaller parts," from com- "together" (see com-) + minuere "to make smaller" (see minus). Related: Comminuted; comminuting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
comminuted in Medicine

comminuted

(kŏm′ə-nōō′tĭd)
adj.
  1. Broken into fragments. Used of a fractured bone.
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comminute

(kŏm′ə-nōōt′)
v.
  1. To reduce to powder; to pulverize.
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Related formscom′mi•nu′tion n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.