frag

[ frag ]

/ fræg /

U.S. Army and Marine Corps Slang.

verb (used with object), fragged, frag·ging.

to kill, wound, or assault (especially an unpopular or overzealous superior) with a fragmentation grenade.

noun

Nearby words

fracture zone, fractus, frae, fraenulum, fraenum, fragging, fragile, fragile site, fragile x syndrome, fragile x-chromosome, fragile-x syndrome

Origin of frag

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70; by shortening

Related formsfrag·ger, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for fragging

frag

/ (fræɡ) /

verb frags, fragging or fragged

(tr) US military slang to kill or wound (a fellow soldier or superior officer) deliberately with an explosive device

Derived Formsfragging, noun

Word Origin for frag

C20: short for fragmentation grenade, as used in Vietnam

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fragging

frag

by 1970, U.S. military slang, from slang noun shortening of fragmentation grenade (1918). Related: Fragged; fragging.

Fragging is a macabre ritual of Vietnam in which American enlisted men attempt to murder their superiors. The word comes from the nickname for hand grenades, a weapon popular with enlisted men because the evidence is destroyed with the consummation of the crime. ["Saturday Review," Jan. 8, 1972]