fragment

American  

[frag-muhnt, frag-muhnt, -ment, frag-ment] / ˈfræg mənt, ˈfræg mənt, -mɛnt, frægˈmɛnt /

noun

• fragments
  plural

1. a part broken off or detached.

   scattered fragments of the broken vase.

2. an isolated, unfinished, or incomplete part.

   She played a fragment of her latest composition.

3. an odd piece, bit, or scrap.

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verb (used without object)

• fragments,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fragmented,
  past participle,  past
• fragmenting
  present participle

1. to collapse or break into fragments; disintegrate.

   The chair fragmented under his weight.

verb (used with object)

• fragments,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fragmented,
  past participle,  past
• fragmenting
  present participle

1. to break (something) into pieces or fragments; cause to disintegrate.

   Outside influences soon fragmented the Mayan culture.

2. to divide into fragments; disunify.

3. Computers. to store (data from a file) in noncontiguous sectors on a disk drive, splitting the file into smaller pieces and breaking up available free space on the disk.

fragment British  

noun

1. a piece broken off or detached

   fragments of rock

2. an incomplete piece; portion

   fragments of a novel

3. a scrap; morsel; bit

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verb

1. to break or cause to break into fragments

Usage

What does fragment mean? A fragment is a piece that has been broken off of or detached from something else. Fragment most commonly refers to a part that has broken off rather than one that has been separated gently or intentionally, as in The vase smashed into a million fragments. A bone fragment is a (usually small) piece that has been chipped off from a bone. Fragment is also used to refer to a part or portion of something that is incomplete or isolated from the whole, such as a fragment of a movie or piece of music. Sometimes, fragment just means a piece, bit, or scrap (regardless of whether it has been removed from a larger part). As a verb, fragment can mean to break into pieces or disintegrate, as in The empire fragmented into multiple states after the emperor’s death. It can also mean to cause to break into pieces or disintegrate. Less commonly, it can mean to divide into fragments. Fragment is also used as a verb in a much more specific way in the context of computers, in which it means to store data files in a way that breaks them up. The opposite of this sense of fragment is defragment—to bringing the parts of the files back together. The word fragment is used in the formation of many related words, including adjectives, nouns, and verbs. The adjective fragmented describes things that have been broken into fragments or things that are or have been disorganized or disunified in some way. The adjective fragmentary means consisting of or reduced to fragments—disconnected or incomplete, as in fragmentary evidence. Fragmentation is the process of breaking into fragments. The verb fragmentize can mean to break something into fragments or separate it into parts, as in They’re going to fragmentize the corporation into several companies. It can also mean for something to break into fragments (without someone doing the fragmentizing). Example: The pirate captain tore the map into fragments, placing the pieces into separate bottles and scattering them across the seven seas.

Synonym Usage

See part.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fragments
  plural

Participles

• fragmenting
  present
• fragmented
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fragment
  simple
• fragments
  simple
• have fragmented
  perfect
• has fragmented
  perfect
• am fragmenting
  progressive
• are fragmenting
  progressive
• is fragmenting
  progressive
• have been fragmenting
  perfect progressive
• has been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Past

• fragmented
  simple
• had fragmented
  perfect
• was fragmenting
  progressive
• were fragmenting
  progressive
• had been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fragment
  simple
• will have fragmented
  perfect
• will be fragmenting
  progressive
• will have been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fragment

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin fragmentum “a broken piece, remnant,” equivalent to frag- (stem of frangere “to break, shatter” ) + -mentum noun suffix; see origin at break, -ment

Explanation

A fragment is a small piece that’s come off a larger whole, and to fragment is to break. If your teacher writes "frag" on your paper, you've got an incomplete sentence. Fragment, meaning "a tiny, brittle shard," first appeared as a noun and later as a verb. That afternoon you hacked away at the fireplace in your parents’ living room in search of secret treasure as a child? Those dusty chunks of brick you scattered all over their shag carpet were fragments of a once-intact wall, and a happier time before you were grounded. Not only did you cause physical damage that day, but you also fragmented their trust in you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fragment fragments fragmented fragmenting

The flood was strong enough to sweep a 10,000-ton fragment of the dam, called Block 29, a full quarter-mile and to destroy a steel bridge on the Santa Clara River nine miles away.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

And 40 years ago, while studying one such bed for her PhD, Prof Christine Maggs found a fragment of pink-striped seaweed living on maerl she had never seen before.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Most of the fragment consists of cortical bone, the thick and dense tissue that forms the hard outer layer of bones.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

The workarounds don’t fragment the bloc because eventually all member states can join.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today’s Prophet, and unfolded the newspaper.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Broken engine fragments smashed a cabin window of a Ryanair plane last month causing a man's head and right shoulder to be sucked into the hole, US investigators have said.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

The separated fan blade resulted in damage to portions of the engine’s cover and sent engine fragments flying, striking the airplane’s fuselage and its horizontal stabilizer, according to the report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

That overwhelming amount of ordinary DNA can obscure the much rarer fragments associated with early cancer, making them harder and more expensive to find.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

In January, Britain and European countries closely watched the re-entry of a Chinese rocket, amid fears fragments could land in Britain.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

The next case housed a Canyon Diablo meteorite, one of many fragments of the asteroid that created the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

But in a letter to NHS England and a small group of patient advocates, Manas said the central body had created a "fragmented" system "with poor accountability".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Hichilema is seeking a second term against a fragmented field of opposition candidates.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

“When we create a modern suburbia with fragmented parks and green space, we do a pretty good job at creating mosquito habitat,” Norris said.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

Women’s baseball has been so fragmented that she usually sees other players only at national tournaments and occasionally when some, like Mo’ne Davis, have a stint with the Bananas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

The other three families have fragmented distributions, being spoken by “islands” of people surrounded by a “sea” of speakers of Chinese and other language families.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

According to the Alma Research Center, they include an advanced interceptor drone, specialist fragmenting anti-drone ammunition, and automatic firing systems with electro-optical sensors.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

Capturing a comet in the act of fragmenting is something the team had long hoped to achieve.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026

That is fragmenting commerce and fueling price volatility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026

The IMF however warned that trade diversion and rerouting -- while offering short-term resilience -- are costly and risk fragmenting global supply chains.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025

When I open my eyes, the world looks slightly fractured, and it takes a minute to realize that the sun must be well up and the glasses fragmenting my vision.

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• bit
• chunk
• hunk
• lump
• particle
• piece
• portion
• remnant
• scrap
• shred
• sliver