fragment

/ˈfræɡmənt/

Other forms: fragments; fragmented; fragmenting

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.

Definitions of fragment

1. noun

   a piece broken off or cut off of something else
   “a fragment of rock”

   types:

   bit, chip, flake, fleck, scrap

   a small fragment of something broken off from the whole

   brickbat

   a fragment of brick used as a weapon

   cinder, clinker

   a fragment of incombustible matter left after a wood or coal or charcoal fire

   clast

   (geology) a constituent fragment of a clastic rock

   coal, ember

   a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering

   filing

   a fragment rubbed off by the use of a file

   paring, shaving, sliver

   a thin fragment or slice (especially of wood) that has been shaved from something

   restriction fragment

   the fragment of DNA that is produced by cleaving DNA with a restriction enzyme

   scraping

   (usually plural) a fragment scraped off of something and collected

   spall, spawl

   a fragment broken off from the edge or face of stone or ore and having at least one thin edge

   spark

   a small fragment of a burning substance thrown out by burning material or by friction

   matchwood

   fragments of wood

   metal filing

   a fragment of metal rubbed off by the use of a file

   exfoliation, scale, scurf

   a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin

   scurf

   (botany) a covering that resembles scales or bran that covers some plant parts

   splint

   a thin sliver of wood

   sliver, splinter

   a small thin sharp bit of wood or glass or metal

   turning

   a shaving created when something is produced by turning it on a lathe

   type of:

   part, piece

   a portion of a natural object
2. noun

   a broken piece of a brittle artifact
   synonyms: shard, sherd

   types:

   potsherd

   a shard of pottery

   type of:

   piece

   a separate part of a whole
3. noun

   an incomplete piece
   “fragments of a play”

   types:

   bit, snatch

   a small fragment

   type of:

   piece

   an artistic or literary composition
4. noun

   an incomplete sentence with the punctuation and capitalization of a complete sentence
   type of:

   sentence

   a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language
5. verb

   break or cause to break into pieces
   “The plate fragmented”

   synonyms: break up, fragmentise, fragmentize

   types:

   atomise, atomize

   break up into small particles

   bray, comminute, crunch, grind, mash

   reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading

   pound

   break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle

   sunder

   break apart or in two, using violence

   sliver, splinter

   break up into splinters or slivers

   rag

   break into lumps before sorting

   crumb

   break into crumbs

   brecciate

   break into breccia

   crush

   break into small pieces

   grate, grind

   make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together

   gnash

   grind together, of teeth

   pulp

   reduce to pulp

   pestle

   grind, mash or pulverize in a mortar

   mill

   grind with a mill

   bruise

   break up into small pieces for food preparation

   chew, jaw, manducate, masticate

   chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth

   type of:

   break, come apart, fall apart, separate, split up

   become separated into pieces or fragments