INJURY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does injury mean? 

• INJURY (noun)
  The noun INJURY has 5 senses:

1. any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.

2. an accident that results in physical damage or hurt

3. a casualty to military personnel resulting from combat

4. an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage

5. wrongdoing that violates another's rights and is unjustly inflicted

  Familiarity information: INJURY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INJURY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

harm; hurt; injury; trauma

Hypernyms ("injury" is a kind of...):

health problem; ill health; unhealthiness (a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "injury"):

cryopathy; frostbite (destruction of tissue by freezing and characterized by tingling, blistering and possibly gangrene)

pull; twist; wrench (a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments)

intravasation (entry of foreign matter into a blood vessel)

penetrating injury; penetrating trauma (injury incurred when an object (as a knife or bullet or shrapnel) penetrates into the body)

pinch (an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed)

rupture (state of being torn or burst open)

bite; insect bite; sting (a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin)

strain (injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain)

whiplash; whiplash injury (an injury to the neck (the cervical vertebrae) resulting from rapid acceleration or deceleration (as in an automobile accident))

wale; weal; welt; wheal (a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions)

lesion; wound (an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin))

break; fracture (breaking of hard tissue such as bone)

electric shock (trauma caused by the passage of electric current through the body (as from contact with high voltage lines or being struck by lightning); usually involves burns and abnormal heart rhythm and unconsciousness)

dislocation (a displacement of a part (especially a bone) from its normal position (as in the shoulder or the vertebral column))

burn (an injury caused by exposure to heat or chemicals or radiation)

bump (a lump on the body caused by a blow)

bruise; contusion (an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration)

blunt trauma (injury incurred when the human body hits or is hit by a large outside object (as a car))

bleeding; haemorrhage; hemorrhage (the flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessel)

blast trauma (injury caused the explosion of a bomb (especially in enclosed spaces))

birth trauma (physical injury to an infant during the birth process)

brain damage (injury to the brain that impairs its functions (especially permanently); can be caused by trauma to the head, infection, hemorrhage, inadequate oxygen, genetic abnormality, etc.)

Derivation:

injure (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

injurious (harmful to living things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An accident that results in physical damage or hurt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

accidental injury; injury

Hypernyms ("injury" is a kind of...):

accident (an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "injury"):

concussion (injury to the brain caused by a blow; usually resulting in loss of consciousness)

mutilation (an injury that causes disfigurement or that deprives you of a limb or other important body part)

Derivation:

injure (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A casualty to military personnel resulting from combat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

combat injury; injury; wound

Hypernyms ("injury" is a kind of...):

loss; personnel casualty (military personnel lost by death or capture)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "injury"):

blighty wound (a wound that would cause an English soldier to be sent home from service abroad)

flesh wound (a wound that does not damage important internal organs or shatter any bones)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("injury" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "injury"):

disservice; ill service; ill turn (an act intended to help that turns out badly)

spoil; spoilage; spoiling (the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it)

Derivation:

injure (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Wrongdoing that violates another's rights and is unjustly inflicted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("injury" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "injury"):

damage; legal injury; wrong (any harm or injury resulting from a violation of a legal right)

 Context examples 

Brain tumors, infections, injuries, and dementia can also cause it.

(Aphasia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

But meanwhile, you have time to make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A sprain is an injury to the ligaments.

(Ankle Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

An allergic response may cause harmful symptoms such as itching or inflammation or tissue injury.

(Allergic response, NCI Dictionary)

The removal by surgery of a limb (arm or leg) or other body part because of injury or disease, such as diabetes or cancer.

(Amputation, NCI Dictionary)

Injuries to any of these parts of the arm can occur during sports, a fall or an accident.

(Arm Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded by the surgeon at the inquest.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You may need a wheelchair or a scooter if an injury or disease has left you unable to walk.

(Mobility Aids, NIH)

Includes laboratory test alterations indicating injury, but without long-term risk.

(Moderate Adverse Event, NCI Thesaurus)

Don't add new injuries to the long, long list of injuries you have done me!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)