capillary fracture
- noun
- /ˈkæpɪˌlɛri ˈfræktʃər/
- Specialized
:
fractura capilar
- The doctor diagnosed her with a capillary fracture in her wrist.
Examples
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The X-ray revealed a capillary fracture in her wrist after the minor fall.
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A capillary fracture is often difficult to detect on an X-ray.
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Athletes are sometimes unaware of a capillary fracture because the pain can be very mild.
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Doctors advised him to rest his foot due to a capillary fracture sustained during training.
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The X-ray revealed a capillary fracture in her wrist after the minor fall.
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Doctors advised him to rest his foot due to a capillary fracture sustained during training.
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A capillary fracture is often difficult to detect on an X-ray.
Synonyms
364
4.1
A break in something hard like a bone or rock
9
5.1
A very thin crack in a bone that does not split it
3
7.4
A very small crack in bone or hard material that is hard to see
A crack in a bone that does not go all the way through
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'capillary' (very narrow/thin) with 'fracture' (a break), so a learner who knows both words can infer a very thin break in the bone with no separation of fragments. This modifier+noun composition follows common semantic logic and is cross-linguistically plausible, making the meaning directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun capillary fracture comes from the word capillary, which is a very thin blood tube, and fracture, which means a break. The image of something as thin as a capillary helps you remember that it means 'a very thin crack in the bone where the pieces do not move apart'.