dislocation

/dɪsloʊˈkeɪʃɪn/

/dɪsləʊˈkeɪʃən/

Other forms: dislocations

Abruptly moving something (or someone) out of its usual place is dislocation. Cutting down the oak tree in your back yard will cause the dislocation of the birds that always build their nests in it.

The word dislocation has several different meanings, but they all have something to do with displacement, moving something from its proper place. A joint dislocation happens when a bone is moved (painfully) out of its normal spot: "A common trampoline injury is elbow dislocation." Human dislocation can occur during war, or after a natural disaster forces people to move away from their homes. The Latin root is dislocare, "put out of place."

Definitions of dislocation

1. noun

   an event that results in a displacement or discontinuity
   synonyms: disruption

   type of:

   break

   some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
2. noun

   the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
   “the social dislocations resulting from government policies”

   synonyms: breakdown

   type of:

   disruption, perturbation

   the act of causing disorder
3. noun

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

   abarticulation

   dislocation of a joint

   diastasis

   separation of an epiphysis from the long bone to which it is normally attached without fracture of the bone

   spondylolisthesis

   a forward dislocation of one vertebra over the one beneath it producing pressure on spinal nerves

   type of:

   harm, hurt, injury, trauma

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