rupture
Americannoun
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ruptures
plural
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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)
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ruptures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ruptured,
past participle, past
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rupturing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
ruptures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ruptured,
past participle, past
-
rupturing
present participle
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
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to affect or be affected with a rupture or hernia
-
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
-
rupturessimple
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have rupturedperfect
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has rupturedperfect
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am rupturingprogressive
-
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
-
rupturedsimple
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had rupturedperfect
-
was rupturingprogressive
-
were rupturingprogressive
-
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:
Prof Ramesh says a CME occurs when these twisting, looping lines - which resemble braided hair - rupture, throwing out massive clouds of magnetised plasma and gas in space.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 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
Riyadh can’t rupture the relationship with its principal security partner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
In March 1989, a midday tube rupture at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo sent cleaning solvent-filled steam into the air and trashed the paint jobs on about 2,000 neighboring cars and trucks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The cheese-monger laughed so hard that Tyrion feared he was about to rupture.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The explosive end of the ceasefire is threatening to reopen ruptures in the oil market that could dent stocks and complicate the Federal Reserve’s inflation fight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
An earthquake that ruptures both the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults through Cajon Pass would likely be far more severe than one limited to a single fault system.
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
I cannot put on paper the idea that I want to scream, as loud as I can, until my throat ruptures.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Hunt left that day unable to walk, and a scan would show she had fully ruptured a tendon in her quadriceps.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Tonsianus Sambang was visiting his mother, being treated for a ruptured blood vessel in her brain, when the quake struck.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
A stretch of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood remained closed Friday as crews repair a trunk line that ruptured early Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing down the famed Sunset Strip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 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
Tom put on the wounded look, face of the ruptured deer.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
In May 2025 he was placed in an induced coma, rupturing his intestine when he collided with a post during a game against Leicester.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
One fault rupturing could prompt a nearby fault — almost already to rupture — to go off in a quake.
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
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.
