broken neck
Snapped spinal column
A broken neck is a fracture of one or more vertebrae in the cervical spine—the section supporting the head.
The injury ranges from painful but treatable to instantly fatal, depending on whether the spinal cord is damaged.
He's lucky to be alive after that fall—he could have broken his neck.
To say someone will break their neck doing something means they'll try extremely hard: She's breaking her neck to finish on time.
- cervicalOf the neck
- spineColumn of vertebrae
- paralysisLoss of muscle function
- whiplashNeck injury from jerking
- fractureSplit in hard material
vertebrae · injury · snap · trauma · head trauma · spinal cord · spinal injury · immobilize · brace · hangman · noose · fall · high dive · accident · stiff · twisted · crack · fatal
- neck injurieswhiplash, crick, pinched nerve, torticollis
- fatal injuriesdecapitation, exsanguination, internal bleeding, brain hemorrhage, gunshot wound
- water injuriesdrowning, near drowning, near-drowning, jellyfish sting, shark bite
broken neckscratch
Superficial wound or mark
sprain · paper cut · stubbed toe · flesh wound · twisted ankle
broken, neck, break, broke, breaks, breaking, unbroken, breakable, unbreakable