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

I don’t know where this fracture will lead, other than that it won’t be anywhere good.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a "fracture in the international rules-based system", Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Haematologist Dr George Adams told the inquest that Lady Joan was "extremely high risk" for blood clots and the "biggest risk factor by far was her immobility and her fracture".

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Vanishing ice and permafrost make glaciers more prone to snapping and the underlying bedrock more likely to fracture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

By morning, the toe had turned purple and he diagnosed a fracture.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones and increases the risk of fractures, affects millions of people and remains a major challenge for doctors seeking safe treatments that can be used over long periods.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

Permafrost degradation may also weaken mountain slopes and allow water to penetrate deeper into fractures.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

That means fractures, pores, and other pathways through the rock could play a critical role in determining whether natural hydrogen can be generated efficiently enough to become a practical energy resource.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026

North London area coroner Tony Murphy ruled her cause of death was bronchopneumonia caused by fractures to her rib and sternum fractures sustained in the crash.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

He was a printing veteran whose hands bore the scars of the clunky outdated presses, several fingers misshapen from old fractures and curled inward like claws.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Their relationship had been fractured for years, and Monk was in no mood to get involved in the latest crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said initial tests showed Darnold had not fractured a hip.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Natalie Wood is taken to the Fillmore Animal Hospital for amputation surgery due to her extensively fractured back leg, which would have cost at least $8,000 to try to heal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

But in recent years, that identity has been fractured entirely.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

The shell may be broken, and even portions of it removed, and yet after a certain lapse of time the injured parts will be repaired by a deposition of shelly matter at the fractured parts.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

The adverse drug test findings that wiped out two years of Conor's career cast a long shadow, fracturing public perception and leaving unanswered questions that still follow him.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

That raised fresh concerns about the appeal of U.S. assets in a fracturing world — and one where yield is no longer hard to find.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

It didn’t explicitly say investigators believe a bird strike led to the engine fan blade fracturing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

But Dasch didn't want to deal with them, so Burger was once again left with the job of alleviating the anger and distrust that was fracturing their group.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• crack
• fissure
• wound