n.
- A long narrow opening; a crack or cleft.
- The process of splitting or separating; division.
- A separation into subgroups or factions; a schism.
- Anatomy. A normal groove or furrow, as in the liver or brain, that divides an organ into lobes or parts.
- Medicine. A break in the skin, usually where it joins a mucous membrane, producing a cracklike sore or ulcer.
To form a crack or cleft or cause a crack or cleft in.
[Middle English, cut, from Old French, from Latin fissūra, from fissus, split. See fissi-.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
