rupture
Americannoun
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the act of breaking or bursting.
The flood led to the rupture of the dam.
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the state of being broken or burst.
a rupture in the earth's surface.
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a breach of harmonious, friendly, or peaceful relations.
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Pathology. hernia, especially abdominal hernia.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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the act of breaking or bursting or the state of being broken or burst
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a breach of peaceful or friendly relations
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pathol
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the breaking or tearing of a bodily structure or part
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another word for hernia
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verb
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to break or burst or cause to break or burst
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to affect or be affected with a rupture or hernia
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to undergo or cause to undergo a breach in relations or friendship
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrupturenoun
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nonrupturableadjective
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rupturableadjective
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unrupturableadjective
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unrupturedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rupturesimple
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rupturessimple
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have rupturedperfect
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has rupturedperfect
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am rupturingprogressive
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are rupturingprogressive
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is rupturingprogressive
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have been rupturingperfect progressive
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has been rupturingperfect progressive
Past
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rupturedsimple
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had rupturedperfect
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was rupturingprogressive
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were rupturingprogressive
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had been rupturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rupture
1475–85; < Latin ruptūra (noun), equivalent to rupt ( us ) (past participle of rumpere to break) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
A rupture is a break or tear in something that pulls it apart. A rupture can be a literal break, like the one that happens in, say, a gas line, or it can be more figurative, as in a friendship or a business deal. The oil spill was less of a spill than it was a rupture: the line leading to the well was severed, allowing the oil to flow into the ocean. Rupture works as both a noun and a verb. You can rupture the silence by screaming your head off, and any number of events in Star Trek can cause a rupture in the space-time continuum.
Vocabulary lists containing rupture
Make a Break for It: Rupt
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"Mammoth Shakes and Monster Waves" Vocabulary from the informational text
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 2–October 8, 2021
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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:
His is just one of many experiences that is fuelling diplomatic tension and threatening to rupture relations between South Africa and other countries on the continent.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Yet the images of ebullient arrivals to Spain, a portion of them minors and some wearing only swimsuits and flip-flops, have already spread far and wide, threatening a rupture in relations with Rabat.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
A rupture between the two may have been inevitable, given that they both demonstrate insufferable self-regard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
It is not clear what caused the second rupture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
What other part of speech than a noun is "rupture"? Ans.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
Because both sections are experiencing high and relatively similar levels of stress, the fault system is in a configuration that has historically preceded multi-fault ruptures.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
The catastrophic explosion occurs when a pressurized vessel containing a liquid ruptures.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
You may not know you have high blood pressure until something goes wrong and that extra pressure ruptures a blood vessel - like a burst pipe – causing a stroke or a heart attack.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
“As soon as the Achilles ruptures, things are going the wrong way,” said O’Malley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
“You’ll have to go to a hospital. If the appendix ruptures, you may get peritonitis, and the infection will spread.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
A section of Sunset Boulevard could continue to be closed for days as crews repair a ruptured trunk line that inundated West Hollywood with about 17 million gallons of water last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
In May 2024, a well ruptured unexpectedly at a Texas site, causing the loss of as much as 400,000 barrels, the GAO report said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Then, on 26 September 2022, several explosions were recorded that ruptured three of the four pipelines.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Wednesday’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake — the second of the two quakes that hit 39 seconds after the first one began — is thought to have ruptured about 100 miles of fault, according to the USGS.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
The undersides held a stickier yellow glow, and here and there a gleaming edge was picked out in nacreous brown, and the occasional filigree lacework that blossomed around a ruptured skin.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Another example involves a system of faults all primed to rupture, but there’s somehow a delay in a second part of the fault rupturing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
On Friday, authorities described the tank exploding or rupturing as the only possible outcomes, but on Saturday Covey said: "Letting this thing just fail and blow up is unacceptable."
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
The quakes occur about every five to six years, repeatedly rupturing nearly the same sections of the fault and reaching nearly identical magnitudes.
From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026
It’s another track about zooming out and then back in, taking in the expanse of the world and then noticing that your own corner of it is rupturing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
I had to hold the phone from my eardrum for fear of him rupturing it.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
