comminute
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
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comminuted; divided into small parts.
-
powdered; pulverized.
verb
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to break (a bone) into several small fragments
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to divide (property) into small lots
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(tr) to pulverize
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of comminute
1620–30; < Latin comminūtus, past participle of comminuere, equivalent to com- com- + minuere to lessen, akin to minor minor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As old people, thro’ diminution of appetite, open their mouths seldomer than formerly; so for want of teeth to comminute their food, they do it with less noise.
From Medica Sacra or a Commentary on on the Most Remarkable Diseases Mentioned in the Holy Scriptures by Mead, Richard
That the stomach is fully able to comminute the food may be proved by the following calculation.
From The Evolution of Modern Medicine A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913 by Osler, William
The stomach is well muscled and churns the food about, helping to comminute it, but it can not take the place of the teeth.
From Maintaining Health Formerly Health and Efficiency by Alsaker, R. L.
In exceptional cases it may be necessary to comminute a large foreign body such as a tooth plate.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Jackson, Chevalier
So this question becomes urgent: Why, the absolute's own total vision of things being so rational, was it necessary to comminute it into all these coexisting inferior fragmentary visions?
From A Pluralistic Universe Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the Present Situation in Philosophy by James, William
Woods suffered comminuted open fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg, which means both bones broke into at least three pieces and broke through the skin.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021
The fractures were described as comminuted, which meant the bones were broken in several places.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2021
Woods suffered comminuted open fractures to both the tibia and fibula in his right leg, which means both bones broke into at least three pieces and broke through the skin.
From Washington Post ● May 27, 2021
He suffered comminuted open fractures to the tibia and fibula, which means both major bones in his lower right leg broke into multiple pieces and poked through the skin, which increased the threat of infection.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2021
The fracture is of the comminuted and fissured variety, the cracks radiating from the point of impact and extending for a considerable distance, sometimes even implicating the articular surface of the bone some inches away.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander
It was readily ignited, burning with a dull flame and smoke, the fragments comminuting more or less by the heat.
From Old Mackinaw The Fortress of the Lakes and its Surroundings by Strickland, W. P. (William Peter)
Indirect, remote, or accidental functions of a hammer may be comminuting, forging, driving, etc.
From The Classification of Patents by United States Patent Office
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
