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

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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

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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

"It's a possible fracture of the arm but he's going to go for scans and we're not going to make a call on him right now where he's at," said Jones.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

One concern is the risk of a compression fracture, which is when a vertebra collapses, usually as a result of osteoporosis, according to Banner Health’s Fisher.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Is it a rift, kerfuffle, brawl or hairline fracture?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The attribution to Samuel is based on clues including the location of the tomb, the sumptuousness of the garment, the age of the deceased and an old fracture.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Then I watched as the little wisp of smoke drifted toward the floor of the airlock, disappearing through a hairline fracture.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Others have not lost their fighting spirit, like Ahmed Ali Mahmoud who is smiling and animated, despite multiple fractures.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

That might make you more vulnerable to foot fractures, according to a 2023 analysis of high-stack running shoes with carbon-fiber plates published in Sports Medicine, with Tenforde as the lead author.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Older adults are also more likely to suffer fractures, while younger children are more likely to sustain head and neck injuries.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

"In order to create those fractures, you have to have either a really thin ice on a really big ocean, or a higher eccentricity and a smaller ocean," Patthoff said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

He pointed at the thin fractures that crazed the smooth black surface of the body.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

It’s another song about a fractured relationship in which obsession reaches a boiling point, as if we’re seeing the couple from “Happy for You” in a different but equally disturbing phase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The idea of one song taking hold among the entire nation’s teenagers is even more ridiculous now that streaming has fractured the musical monoculture.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

We’ve crossed it at all hours in every kind of weather, on foot, on bikes and in cars, talking about school, work, family and, lately, the fractured state of the nation and world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecomu on Thursday was unveiling the country’s draft budget that he will try to push through a fractured parliament.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ocean’s mom realized that pushing me out of her son’s life had only fractured her own relationship with him, so she let me back in.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

But nearly two centuries ago, European settlers started fracturing this relationship.

From Los Angeles Times ● 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

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Related Words

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