Fracture
English Meaning
The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
- The act or process of breaking.
- The condition of having been broken or ruptured: "a sudden and irreparable fracture of the established order” ( W. Bruce Lincoln).
- A break, rupture, or crack, especially in bone or cartilage.
- Mineralogy The characteristic manner in which a mineral breaks.
- Mineralogy The characteristic appearance of the surface of a broken mineral.
- Geology A crack or fault in a rock.
- To cause to break: The impact fractured a bone.
- To undergo a break in (a bone): He fractured his ankle in the fall.
- To disrupt or destroy as if by breaking: fractured the delicate balance of power.
- To abuse or misuse flagrantly, as by violating rules: ignorant writers who fracture the language.
- Slang To cause to laugh heartily: "Jack Benny fractured audiences . . . for more than 50 years” ( Newsweek).
- To undergo a fracture. See Synonyms at break.