Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: ILLNESS AND DISABILITY

fracture

1 verb
     
frac‧ture1 [intransitive and transitive]
1MI if a bone or other hard substance fractures, or if it is fractured, it breaks or cracks:
The immense pressure causes the rock to fracture.
fracture your leg/arm/hip etc
He fractured his right leg during training.
2 if a group, country etc fractures, or if it is fractured, it divides into parts in an unfriendly way because of disagreement [= split]:
The opposition has been fractured by bitter disputes.
WORD FOCUS: break WORD FOCUS: break
smash with a lot of force
shatter into many pieces
split into two pieces
snap into two pieces, with a sudden loud noise
tear paper/cloth
burst pipe/tyre/balloon
crumble break into a lot of small pieces
disintegrate break into a lot of small pieces and be destroyed
fracture if a bone fractures or you fracture it, it breaks slightly so that a small line appears on the surface

➔ See also break
Definition of fracture from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic ILLNESS AND DISABILITY
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