1. A descriptive term for the appearance on the surface of a freshly broken mineral or rock: The freezing winter weather was so severe up in the mountains that in the spring, geologists found many fracturing cracks in the stones.
2. A reference to the process of producing natural gas from man-made cracks in the earth: Fracturing systems are used to produce gas, including fluids that are pumped into formations under the ground with extremely high pressure to create or to enlarge the openings so gas can flow out.