Fracture \Frac"ture\ (?; 135), 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fracture \Frac"ture\ (?; 135), 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.

Usage: 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)