Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Fracture \Frac"ture\ (?; 135), n. [L. fractura, fr. frangere,
fractum, to break: cf. F. fracture. See {Fraction}.]
1. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach.
2. (Surg.) The breaking of a bone.
3. (Min.) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a
compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture.
{Comminuted fracture} (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone
is broken into several parts.
{Complicated fracture} (Surg.), a fracture of the bone
combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or
joint.
{Compound fracture} (Surg.), a fracture in which there is an
open wound from the surface down to the fracture.
{Simple fracture} (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone only
is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by
an open wound.
Syn: {Fracture}, {Rupture}.
Usage: These words denote different kinds of breaking,
according to the objects to which they are applied.
Fracture is applied to hard substances; as, the
fracture of a bone. Rupture is oftener applied to soft
substances; as, the rupture of a blood vessel. It is
also used figuratively. ``To be an enemy and once to
have been a friend, does it not embitter the
rupture?'' --South.
Source : WordNet®
simple fracture
n : an uncomplicated fracture in which the broken bones to not
pierce the skin [syn: {closed fracture}]