fracture
n. countablen. a crack or break in something hard, like a bone or a rock. You use this word when something has split apart but might not be completely broken into pieces.
n. the act or instance of breaking or cracking a hard object or material. Often used in medical contexts for bone injuries or in geological contexts for rock formations.
The doctor confirmed a small fracture in my wrist.
The earthquake caused a deep fracture in the road that made it impossible for cars to pass.
While the x-ray showed no complete break, the radiologist identified a hairline fracture that would require several weeks of immobilization to heal properly.
From Middle English fracture, from Old French fracture, from Latin frāctūra (“a breach, fracture, cleft”), from frangere (“to break”), past participle frāctus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-, whence also English break. See fraction. Doublet of fraktur.
Commonly used with the preposition 'in' to indicate the location of the break.