► injury a wound or damage to part of your body caused by an accident or attack: Smith has missed several games because of injury. She was treated in the hospital for minor injuries (=ones that are not serious).
► wound an injury, especially a deep cut made in your skin by a knife or bullet: He needed emergency treatment for a gunshot wound.
► cut a small wound you get if a sharp object cuts your skin: She has a cut on her finger from when she was chopping carrots.
► scratch a small cut on someone’s skin that is not deep: His legs were covered in scratches and bruises.
► scrape/abrasion a lot of small cuts on one area of someone’s skin, caused for example by falling down. Abrasion is mostly used in medical language: The girl had scrapes on both knees.
► laceration formal a bad cut or tear on the skin. Used especially in medical language: She suffered facial lacerations in the attack.
► bruise/contusion a black or blue mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit. Contusion is mostly used in medical language: There was a dark bruise on her cheek.
► sore/lesion a wound or cut on your skin that is painful and infected. Lesion is mostly used in medical language: The sore on his hand was slow to heal.
► sprain an injury to a joint in your body, caused by suddenly twisting it: He hurt himself during the game, but it’s just a slight sprain.
► bump/swelling an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it on something. Swelling is more formal than bump: She has a bump on her forehead from when she banged it on the cupboard door.
► fracture a crack or broken part in a bone: X-rays showed a small fracture.
► break a place where a bone has broken: The doctor used a model of the arm bone to show me where the break is.