rupture

5 definitions • 6 examples

to (cause something to) explode, break, or tear:

His appendix ruptured and he had to be rushed to hospital.

figurative This news has ruptured (= violently ended) the delicate peace between the rival groups.

If you rupture yourself, you break apart the wall of muscle that keeps your stomach and your bowels in place, usually by lifting something too heavy.

an occasion when something explodes, breaks, or tears:

a rupture of the pipeline

figurative a rupture (= an end to a friendly relationship) between the families

a medical condition in which the wall of muscle holding the stomach and bowels in place inside the body is broken apart:

You're going to give yourself a rupture if you lift that.

to burst or break, or to cause something to burst or break:

[ I ] High winds caused the oil tank to rupture.