hairline fracture
9
5.1
- noun
- /ˈhɛrˌlaɪn ˈfrækʧər/
:
fractura por estrés
- After the fall, she was relieved to learn it was just a hairline fracture and nothing more serious.
- hairline fracture of my ankle
- just a hairline fracture
- suffered a hairline fracture
Like he had a very tough like stress fracture, big hairline fracture.
- Like he had a very tough like stress fracture, big hairline fracture.
Examples
-
Flowers suffered a hairline fracture near a knuckle on his left hand in September.
Blog text (24) -
They x-rayed his nose (no fracture), his wrist (hairline fracture), and his thumb (clearly fractured).
Blog text (33) -
- Well, you said he just had a hairline fracture.
-
- The police report said that it was just a hairline fracture on the side of his head.
-
Look for hairline fractures through the base of the skull.
-
You got a hairline fracture of your left clavicle.
-
You got at least three cracked ribs and a hairline fracture to your wrist.
-
Shows the hairline fracture he sustained in the fight with the orderly.
Fiction book (2001) -
Below: Gladiators' wounds, like the hairline fracture in this arm bone, were well treated.
Academic text (2008) -
You've got a hairline fracture in your tailbone.
Synonyms
5
4.6
A small crack in a bone caused by doing the same movement again and again
3
7.4
A very small crack in bone or hard material that is hard to see
A tiny crack in a bone that does not separate the pieces
A crack in a bone that does not go all the way through
A crack that appears in metal or bone after repeated stress
Antonyms
- Specialized
A break in a bone that goes all the way through and separates it into two or more pieces
How Severe
- Specialized
1
8.1
- Specialized
6
6.0
- Specialized
1
3.5
9
5.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very thin crack in a bone' is directly derivable from combining 'hairline' (a very thin, barely visible line) with 'fracture' (a break or crack); 'hairline' simply qualifies the fracture's thinness. This is a straightforward compositional modifier + noun compound that follows regular English patterns and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase hairline fracture comes from the image of a crack as thin as a hairline, a very thin line, running through a bone. Because the crack is so small and the bone is not split into pieces, hairline fracture means 'a very thin crack' rather than a full break.