01 n. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
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1.
The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
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2.
The breaking of a bone.(Surg.)
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3.
The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture.(Min.)
Phrases & compounds
Comminuted fracture —
a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts.
Complicated fracture —
a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint.
Compound fracture —
a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture.
Simple fracture —
a fracture in which the bone only is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by an open wound.
Syn.
Fracture, Rupture.
These words denote different kinds of breaking, according to the objects to which they are applied. Fracture is applied to hard substances; as, the fracture of a bone. Rupture is oftener applied to soft substances; as, the rupture of a blood vessel. It is also used figuratively. “To be an enemy and once to have been a friend, does it not embitter the rupture?”