rupture

[ruhp-cher]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rupture ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of breaking or bursting: The flood led to the rupture of the dam.

the state of being broken or burst: a rupture in the earth's surface.

a breach of harmonious, friendly, or peaceful relations.

Pathology. hernia, especially abdominal hernia.

verb (used with object), rup·tured, rup·tur·ing.

to break or burst: He ruptured a blood vessel.

to cause a breach of: to rupture friendly relations.

Pathology. to affect with hernia.

verb (used without object), rup·tured, rup·tur·ing.

to suffer a break or rupture.

Origin of rupture

1475–85; < Latin ruptūra (noun), equivalent to rupt(us) (past participle of rumpere to break) + -ūra -ure

Related formsrup·tur·a·ble, adjectivenon·rup·tur·a·ble, adjectivenon·rup·ture, nounun·rup·tur·a·ble, adjectiveun·rup·tured, adjective

Can be confusedrapture rupture

Synonyms for rupture

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rupture ON THESAURUS.COM

2. fracture, break, split, burst. 5. fracture, split, disrupt.

Antonyms for rupture

2. seam, union. 5. unite.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rupture

fissure, schism, fracture, breach, hernia, rift, misunderstanding, disruption, estrangement, puncture, burst, tear, shatter, erupt, sunder, disrupt, sever, division, rent, crack

Examples from the Web for rupture

Contemporary Examples of rupture

Over the next eight years, the rupture would fissure across every state and territory in the Union.
The GOP’s Last Identity Crisis Remade U.S. Politics
Michael Wolraich
July 24, 2014
Are we living through a parallel period – an end of an era before a rupture?
The Final Shoot: How an English Country Novel Set in 1913 Explains 2013
Ilana Bet-El
November 30, 2013
The second section, Rupture, represents the state between death and rebirth.
Mariko Mori Rebirth at the Japan Society
Justin Jones
October 10, 2013
The exhibition is divided into three sections: origin, rupture, and rebirth.
Mariko Mori Rebirth at the Japan Society
Justin Jones
October 10, 2013
It was a rupture in our genealogy that came to serve as a metaphor for larger losses in black history.
‘Searching for Zion’: Emily Raboteau’s Hunt for the Promised Land
Mindy Farabee
January 13, 2013

Historical Examples of rupture

If he remained only a few minutes it would indicate that there had been a rupture.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
The married couple should, therefore, avoid everything which may rupture this link.
The Sexual Question
August Forel
As soon as each understood the other's full intention, there would be a rupture.
The Siege of Boston
Allen French
Step by step the mother country and its colonies were advancing to a rupture.
The Siege of Boston
Allen French
It is rumored here that the Russian ambassador is no stranger to this rupture.'
A Day's Ride
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for rupture

rupture

noun

the act of breaking or bursting or the state of being broken or burst

a breach of peaceful or friendly relations

pathol

the breaking or tearing of a bodily structure or part
another word for hernia

verb

to break or burst or cause to break or burst

to affect or be affected with a rupture or hernia

to undergo or cause to undergo a breach in relations or friendship

Derived Formsrupturable, adjective

Word Origin for rupture

C15: from Latin ruptūra a breaking, from rumpere to burst forth; see erupt

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 rupture

late 14c., originally medical, from Latin ruptura "the breaking (of an arm or leg), fracture," from past participle stem of rumpere "to break," from PIE *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)). Specifically as "abdominal hernia" from early 15c.

1739, from rupture (n.). Related: Ruptured; rupturing. Ruptured duck (1945) was U.S. GI's dismissive term (based on its design) for the discharge button they were awarded.

rupture in Medicine

rupture

[rŭp′chər]

n.

The process of breaking open or bursting.

A hernia, especially of the groin or intestines.

A tear in an organ or a tissue.

v.

To break open; burst.