fracture
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A break in bone or cartilage.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
frakcherSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɹæktʃɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
medicine
A break in bone or cartilage.
An instance of breaking, a place where something has broken.
verb
ambitransitive
Interrupt, break, or destroy
ambitransitive
Break into pieces
“The pothole fractured a bolt on the axle.”
ambitransitive
Break (a bone)
ambitransitive
To break, or cause something to break.
transitiveslang
To amuse (a person) greatly; to split someone's sides.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A break in bone or cartilage.
Used this way, fracture is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use fracture
- “The pothole fractured a bolt on the axle.”verb
- “This writer really fractures the language.”verb
- “The tibia fractured from the blow of the iron pipe.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An uncomplicated fracture in which the broken bones to not pierce the skin.
Fracture in which the bone is splintered or crushed.
Break involving the entire width of the bone.
Bone fracture associated with lacerated soft tissue or an open wound.
Fracture in which the bone collapses (especially in short bones such as vertebrae).
Fracture of the skull where the bone is pushed in.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- osteoporosisnoun
- distaladjective
- crackverb
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: interrupt or break or or destroy
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.