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Medicine vocabulary · Diseases by System

Fracture

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈfræktʃər/nounCore term

In medicine, fracture means: A break or crack in a bone, caused by an injury or by bone that has become weak.

In Turkish: kırık

How it is used

Used in emergency medicine and orthopedics. Doctors describe the bone, the site and the type: displaced, open, closed or stress fracture. It is also a verb: 'She fractured her wrist.'

Example sentences

  1. The X-ray shows a displaced fracture of the distal radius.

  2. He fractured his hip after a fall at home.

Common collocations

  • hip fracture
  • displaced fracture
  • open fracture
  • stress fracture
  • fracture clinic
  • X-rayAn image of the inside of the body made with a type of radiation that passes through soft tissue but is blocked by bone and other dense structures.
  • surgeryTreatment in which a doctor cuts into the body to repair, remove or replace something; also the medical specialty that does this.
  • analgesicA medicine that relieves pain, such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or morphine; patients usually call it a painkiller.
  • emergency departmentThe hospital department, open 24 hours a day, that treats people with sudden illness or injury who need urgent care.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Diseases by System

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.