Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Fracture

Frac′ture, n. [L. fractura, fr. frangere, fractum, to break: cf. F. fracture. See Fraction.] 1. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.

2. (Surg.) The breaking of a bone.

3. (Min.) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture.

Comminuted fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts. — Complicated fracture (Surg.), a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint. — Compound fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture. — Simple fracture (Surg.), 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?" South.

Frac′ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fractured (#; 135); p. pr. & vb. n.. Fracturing.] [Cf. F. fracturer.] To cause a fracture or fractures in; to break; to burst asunder; to crack; to separate the continuous parts of; as, to fracture a bone; to fracture the skull.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.