fracture
Skeletal damage type
A fracture is a break or crack, most often in a bone but also in rock, glass, or other rigid materials.
Doctors distinguish between simple fractures, where the bone breaks cleanly, and compound fractures, where bone pierces the skin.
The word extends to abstractions: a fractured relationship or fractured trust suggests something once whole that has been damaged or broken apart.
As a verb, fracture means to break or cause to break: She fractured her wrist in the fall.
Interrupt continuity
- crackNarrow break or attempt
- snapSudden sharp sound
- shatterFragment violently, suddenly
- splinterThin sharp fragment
rupture · split · fragment · cleave · sever · smash · disintegrate · crumble
Crack or estrangement
- schismFormal organizational fracture
- divisionSplitting into parts
- splitSeparation into parts
- ruptureViolent tearing apart
breakdown · estrangement · alienation · discord · disunity · polarization · fragmentation · splintering
Narrow break or attempt
- failureLack of success
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
- loadCarried weight or burden
brittle · collapse · rupture · propagation · tension · compression · shear · catastrophic
Interrupt continuity
- crackNarrow break or attempt
- splintDevice immobilizing injured limbs
- castPerformers, throw, or splint
- hairlineScalp-skin boundary
greenstick · spiral · comminuted · displaced · compression · healing · orthopedic · surgery
break
Interrupt continuity
splinter · rupture · split · fragment · cleave · sever · smash · disintegrate · crumble · give way
rift
Crack or estrangement
rupture · breakdown · estrangement · alienation · discord · disunity · polarization · fragmentation · splintering · breach
crack
Narrow break or attempt
load · brittle · collapse · rupture · propagation · tension · compression · shear · catastrophic · hairline crack
break
Interrupt continuity
hairline · greenstick · spiral · comminuted · displaced · compression · healing · orthopedic · surgery · immobilization
fault
Imperfection or blame
cleavage · rift · tectonics · seismic · rock · bedrock · outcrop · plate boundary · stress · strain
- medicinedoctor, doctors, hospital, medicine, surgery
- injuriesbruise, sprain, concussion, contusion, laceration
- leg injuriesbroken leg, knee injury, hamstring strain, ACL tear, hamstring tear
- separationseparate, sieving, straining, divide, filtration
- Sports Injuriesmuscle strain, tendonitis, ligament sprain, hamstring strain, groin pull
- medical issuesdiagnosis, symptoms, complications, prognosis, treatment failure
fracturewholeness
Complete, undivided state
intactness · continuity · soundness · solidity · integrity
- hip fracturesCracks in thighbone top
- stress fracturesMicroscopic bone breaks from overuse
- skull fractureBreak in head bone
- compound fractureBone snaps through skin
- hairline fractureMinuscule bone break
- bone fractureCracked or broken skeleton