Fracture - Definition

n 1: breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty
fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"
[syn: fracture, break]
2: (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the
displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they
built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the
faulting of the earth's crust" [syn: fault, faulting,
geological fault, shift, fracture, break]
3: the act of cracking something [syn: fracture, crack,
cracking]
v 1: violate or abuse; "This writer really fractures the
language"
2: interrupt, break, or destroy; "fracture the balance of power"
3: break into pieces; "The pothole fractured a bolt on the axle"
4: become fractured; "The tibia fractured from the blow of the
iron pipe"
5: break (a bone); "She broke her clavicle"
6: fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
[syn: fracture, break]