fracas
(s) (noun), fracases
(pl)
1. A loud, disorderly disturbance or fight; a riotous brawl; an uproar: After a few hours, Dan's friends started a
fracas as a result of too much drinking at his birthday party.
2. Etymology: from French
fracas, from Italian
fracasso, "uproar, crash"; from
fracassare, "to smash, to crash, to break in pieces"; from
fra of Latin
infra, "below" + Italian
cassare, "to break"; from Latin
quassare, "to shake".
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frack,
(verb) fracks; fracked; fracking
A new way of extracting natural gas, coal seam gas, or other substances from shale deposits: There are many companies that are fracking into the ground and then they frack horizontally into underground deposits of shale and pump a high-pressure mix of water and chemicals into the well to break apart the rock and release natural gas.
fracking
(s) (noun), frackings
(pl)
The process of drilling horizontally into underground deposits of shale and then pumping a high-pressure mix of water and chemicals into a well to break apart the rock and release natural gas: Some people are disturbed about
fracking activities, not only in the U.S., but also in other countries.
Fracking is a term that comes from hydraulic fracturing or hydro fracking which creates cracking from a wellbore or any hole drilled for the purpose of exploration or extraction of natural resources that is drilled into reservoir rock formations.
There are a lot of people who think fracking is a dirty word.
fracking
(adjective), more racking, most racking
A reference to a process that is used to release petroleum, natural gas, coal seam gas, or other substances that are extracted from shale: There can be
fracking problems when solid rock is cracked open to squeeze out natural gas because such actions could ruin future plans that some people have regarding the storage of carbon dioxide which is released from burning fossil fuels.
Fracking activities have been blamed for contaminating drinking water, causing small earthquakes and for driving up greenhouse gas emissions or gas that absorbs infrared radiation.
A serious fracking threat could be that carbon dioxide, which is generated by power plants, could not be stored underground because the layers of impermeable caprocks above the storage areas would be poked through with so many fracking holes that they wouldn't be able to form effective seals for any carbon dioxide to prevent leakage back into the atmosphere.
fractal
(s) (noun), fractals
(pl)
1. A geometric pattern that is repeated at ever smaller scales to produce irregular shapes and surfaces which cannot be represented by classical geometry: Fractals are used especially in computer modeling of irregular patterns and structures in nature.
2. Etymology: from French which came from Latin fractus, "broken" the past participle of frangere, "to break".
fractile
(s) (noun), fractiles
(pl)
1. A value which divides a set of data into equal proportions.
2. A breakage, cleavage, division, or splitting of something.
fraction
(s) (noun), fractions
(pl)
1. An expression that indicates the quotient of two quantities in mathematics; such as, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, etc.
2. A small disconnected piece; a fragment.
3. A small part or item forming a piece of a whole.
4. Etymology: from Late Latin fractionem, fractio, "a breaking"; especially, into pieces, from the Latin root of frangere "to break".
fractional
(adjective), more fractional, most fractional
1. Referring to something that is very small or insignificant.
2. Relating to, containing, or constituting one or more small pieces.
fractionally
(adverb), more fractionally, most fractionally
1. Descriptive of something that is very small or slight.
2. Related to the process of separating individual components from a mixture on the basis of the chemical or physical properties that make them different from other components.
fractionize
(verb), fractionizes; fractionized; fractionizing
1. To divide into parts or a numerical quantity that is not a whole number .
2. To divide an amount of something into small portions or pieces.
fractious
(adjective), more fractious, most fractious
A reference to someone who is irritable and likely to complain or to misbehave: A
fractious person is quarrelsome and difficult to get along with; so, Samuel's
fractious nature made him an unsuitable person for a career in customer service for the department store where he worked.
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© ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
fracture
(s) (noun), fractures
(pl)
1. The act of breaking something; especially, a bone.
2. A break, a split, or a crack in an object or some form of material.
3. A split or division in something; such as, a system, organization, or agreement.
4. In geology, a break in a rock or mineral, across which there is a separation.
fracture
(verb), fractures; fractured; fracturing
1. To cause to break: "When Melvin slipped on the ice, he fractured a leg bone."
2. To disrupt or to destroy as if by breaking: "
3. To abuse or to misuse flagrantly, as by violating rules: "There are some writers who fracture the language in their books."
fracture of the humerus
(s) (noun), fracture of the humeri
(pl)
Physical injury that is sufficient to break the bone of the upper arm or forelimb that are forming joints at the shoulder and the elbow: If the
fracture of the humerus is at the upper end, the arm is on a wire splint for about four weeks.
Usually movements of the fracture of the humerus at the elbow and wrist are started early, and active conditions of the shoulder will begin in about three weeks.
fracturing
(s) (noun), fracturings
(pl)
A stimulation technique in a well in which fluids are pumped into a formation under extremely high pressure to create or to enlarge a hole for oil and gas to flow through: Sand is injected with a liquid to hold the I>fracturings open while the process is going on.
Related break, broken-word units:
clast-;
rupt-.