fragment
Americannoun
-
fragments
plural
-
a part broken off or detached.
scattered fragments of the broken vase.
-
an isolated, unfinished, or incomplete part.
She played a fragment of her latest composition.
-
an odd piece, bit, or scrap.
verb (used without object)
-
fragments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fragmented,
past participle, past
-
fragmenting
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
fragments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fragmented,
past participle, past
-
fragmenting
present participle
-
to break (something) into pieces or fragments; cause to disintegrate.
Outside influences soon fragmented the Mayan culture.
-
to divide into fragments; disunify.
-
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.
noun
-
a piece broken off or detached
fragments of rock
-
an incomplete piece; portion
fragments of a novel
-
a scrap; morsel; bit
verb
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
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fragmentsimple
-
fragmentssimple
-
have fragmentedperfect
-
has fragmentedperfect
-
am fragmentingprogressive
-
are fragmentingprogressive
-
is fragmentingprogressive
-
have been fragmentingperfect progressive
-
has been fragmentingperfect progressive
Past
-
fragmentedsimple
-
had fragmentedperfect
-
was fragmentingprogressive
-
were fragmentingprogressive
-
had been fragmentingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing fragment
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Give Me a Break!: Fract and Frag
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Keystone Exams: English Composition Glossary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
By comparing the fragment with fossils from related dinosaurs, researchers were able to estimate what this long-extinct animal might have looked like and how it lived.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
A fragment of one of these elaborate constructions survives in the dress collection stored today at Hampton Court, where Elizabeth’s “standing wardrobe” was kept.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
El Adli discovered the first fossil fragment on Aug. 31.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
These along with a fragment from a Magnum bottle were found on the jeans recovered from the clothing bin.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
So, willy-nilly, a little fragment of problematic facticity was let loose in the world.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In a lab at the Center for DNA Identification in Hanoi last week, technicians carefully cut into bone fragments separated from remains to extract samples for DNA analysis.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Dr Lindsay said: "We have identified a number of different fragments that have been incorporated into the retaining wall of Perth Station, for example, and into boundary walls of gardens."
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
As these continental fragments came together, immense pressure and heat reshaped large sections of Earth's crust.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Eliot Prize-winning collection of narrative poetry “The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos”; her haunting accordion-fold elegy, “Nox”; and her widely praised translation of Sappho’s surviving fragments, “If Not, Winter.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Whereas to me it was a bombshell, exploding in a thousand fragments.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
UniCredit wants to create a European banking behemoth better able to take on bigger US rivals, arguing that a merger would strengthen the region's fragmented banking sector.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
The birds' seasonal migration may become increasingly difficult as changes in climate may force them to move to higher elevations on hills, to smaller and fragmented areas.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
"Combined with a fragmented healthcare system, many people do not receive the care they need."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
The company competes in a “very fragmented space,” is more than double the size of its next biggest competitor and has been using AI to optimize pricing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Pollard’s injuries, involving fragmented bones that ground together each time he moved, were agonizing, and medicine offered few practical solutions.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
It said hundreds of vessels are now part of shadow fleets that evade sanctions and sail without insurance, fragmenting supply chains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ice masses of this size can remain in the ocean for years, slowly fragmenting into smaller pieces that may become progressively harder to detect and follow.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Prof Weissbourd points to a broader fragmenting of communities too.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
Prolonged uncertainty over trade policy is, in the Fund's view, likely to weigh on business investment decisions and cloud growth prospects, while fragmenting supply chains over the medium term.
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
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
