fragment
gb/fɹˈæɡmənt/ us/fɹˈæɡmənt/
B2
English
~ 7000
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B2
entity
1
small broken piece of something solid
A small piece that has broken off from something hard, like glass, bone, or metal.
Usage pattern:
a fragment of [something]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes use "fragment" when "piece" is more natural in everyday speech (e.g. saying "a fragment of cake" instead of "a piece of cake"). "Fragment" is more common for hard, often broken materials like glass, bone, metal, or stone, not for food portions.
Synonyms
piece (Very general; does not always suggest that it was broken off, while "fragment" usually does.)
|
chip (Usually smaller and thinner, often from wood, stone, or paint.)
|
shard (Most often used for broken glass or pottery, and can sound slightly more literary.)
Antonyms
whole (Refers to the complete object before it was broken into fragments.)
|
intact (Emphasizes that something has not been broken or damaged into pieces.)
Collocations
glass fragments
|bone fragments
|a fragment of glass
|tiny fragments
|broken fragments
|fragments of metal
Themes
objects
|daily_life
|science
|health
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- The dentist removed a tiny fragment of bone from his gum.
- Shards and fragments of glass covered the kitchen floor after the window broke.
- Archaeologists found a fragment of pottery buried near the river.
- A metal fragment was lodged in the car door after the crash.
- She kept a fragment of the broken plate as a reminder.
Learner examples
- There are small fragments of glass on the table.
- The doctor took out a bone fragment from his leg.
- I found a fragment of a cup on the ground.
- They picked up every fragment of the broken window.
- Be careful; there are sharp fragments on the floor.
Noun
B2
entity
2
small incomplete part of something abstract
A small part of something you cannot touch, like words, music, or a memory, that is not complete.
Usage pattern:
a fragment of [speech/text/music/memory]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse this with "quote" or "excerpt". A "fragment" suggests something incomplete or damaged, while an "excerpt" or "quote" is usually a chosen, useful part taken on purpose.
Synonyms
snippet (Informal; often used for small parts of text, conversation, or code, and sounds lighter or more casual than "fragment".)
|
scrap (Can sound more informal and may suggest something left over or not very valuable.)
|
excerpt (More formal and usually neutral or positive; used for a chosen part of a text or performance, not necessarily incomplete by accident.)
Antonyms
whole (Refers to the complete work or experience, not just a small part.)
|
complete text (Highlights that nothing is missing, unlike a fragment where parts are missing.)
Collocations
fragment of a sentence
|fragments of conversation
|a fragment of a poem
|fragments of memory
|a fragment of a dream
|only fragments remain
Themes
language
|arts
|communication
|psychology
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- I could only remember fragments of our conversation the next day.
- The letter was damaged, and only a fragment of the final page was readable.
- The song is lost, but a short fragment of the melody survives in another piece.
- She woke up with only a fragment of her dream still in her mind.
- The novel was reconstructed from fragments of the original manuscript.
Learner examples
- I remember only small fragments of my childhood.
- We read a fragment of the story in class.
- The audio was bad, so I heard only fragments of what he said.
- Researchers found a fragment of an old text.
- He could see a clear fragment of the movie in his mind.
Noun
technical
B2
entity
3
incomplete group of words (grammar)
A group of words that looks like a sentence but is not complete, usually because it has no subject or no main verb.
Usage pattern:
a sentence fragment
Common mistake:
Learners may think that any short sentence is a fragment. However, a fragment is not about length; it is about missing a necessary part (like a subject or main verb). A very short sentence like "Stop!" is complete, not a fragment.
Synonyms
incomplete sentence (More learner-friendly and explicit; often used in teaching before introducing the term "fragment".)
Antonyms
complete sentence (Has a subject and a main verb and expresses a full idea, unlike a fragment.)
Collocations
sentence fragment
|identify fragments
|fix sentence fragments
|run-on sentences and fragments
|avoid fragments
Themes
language
|education
|communication
Examples
- Your first paragraph contains several sentence fragments that need to be rewritten.
- Teachers often underline fragments in students' essays with a different color.
- "Because I was tired" is a common type of sentence fragment.
- The editor asked her to fix all the fragments before submitting the article.
- Online grammar tools can help you spot sentence fragments in your writing.
Learner examples
- The teacher said my sentence is a fragment.
- "When I was young" is a sentence fragment.
- Please change this fragment into a full sentence.
- I need to check my essay for sentence fragments.
- This fragment does not have a verb. It is not a full sentence.
Verb
C1
action
4
break something into small pieces
To break, or make something break, into small pieces.
Usage pattern:
to fragment [something]; to fragment into [pieces]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes use "fragment" as a verb when "break" or "break up" sounds more natural in everyday conversation. "Fragment" is more formal and often used in technical, scientific, or written contexts.
Synonyms
shatter (Suggests breaking suddenly into many small, sharp pieces, often with noise, especially glass or hard objects.)
|
break up (More general and informal; used for many things, from physical objects to events or relationships.)
Antonyms
join (Means to connect pieces together, the opposite of breaking them apart.)
|
unify (To make parts into a single whole rather than breaking them into fragments.)
Collocations
fragment into pieces
|rock fragments over time
|bullets that fragment
|to fragment the material
|glass that fragments easily
Themes
actions
|violence
|science
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- The impact caused the windshield to fragment into thousands of tiny pieces.
- Some bullets are designed to fragment on impact to reduce the risk of ricochet.
- Over many years, the rock slowly fragmented under the pressure of ice and water.
- The sculpture fragmented when it fell from the shelf.
- This type of safety glass is made to fragment rather than form large sharp shards.
Learner examples
- The rock will slowly fragment in the rain and wind.
- The glass hit the floor and fragmented into small pieces.
- The bomb caused the wall to fragment.
- Old bones can fragment when they are moved.
- The material is weak and will fragment easily.
Verb
C1
action
5
divide or split into groups
To make a group, system, or market split into smaller parts that are less connected.
Usage pattern:
to fragment [group/system/market]; [group] fragments into [parts]
Common mistake:
Learners may overuse "separate" or "split" and not realize that "fragment" often suggests many small, scattered parts and sometimes a loss of unity or power.
Synonyms
split (More common in everyday speech; can be physical or social, and may sound less formal than "fragment".)
|
divide (Very general; does not always suggest small, scattered parts the way "fragment" often does.)
|
disintegrate (Stronger; suggests falling apart completely or chaotically, not just dividing.)
Antonyms
unify (To bring separate groups together into one, the opposite of fragmenting them.)
|
consolidate (To bring parts together to make them stronger and more central, opposite of splitting into smaller parts.)
Collocations
fragment the market
|society is fragmenting
|a fragmented audience
|political parties fragment
|fragmented attention
|media landscape fragments
Themes
society
|business
|politics
|technology
|work
Examples
- Social media has fragmented the television audience into many small niche groups.
- The company worries that launching too many products will fragment its brand identity.
- Over time, the coalition fragmented into competing factions.
- The music market has fragmented, with listeners spread across many streaming platforms.
- Our attention is increasingly fragmented by constant notifications and messages.
Learner examples
- The internet can fragment the audience for news.
- The big party started to fragment into smaller groups.
- Many new apps fragment users' attention.
- Civil war can fragment a country into different regions.
- Too many small tasks fragment my day and make it hard to focus.
Noun
technical
C1
entity
6
separated part of digital data
In computers, one small part of data or memory that is part of a bigger file or message and is sent or stored on its own.
Usage pattern:
a fragment of [a packet/file]; data fragments
Common mistake:
Learners may think "fragment" in computing is completely different from the everyday meaning, but it still means a small part of a larger whole. The technical meaning depends heavily on the specific technology (network packets, files, memory).
Synonyms
segment (Often used more broadly in computing and does not always suggest that something was broken up by force or limitation, as "fragment" can.)
Antonyms
whole packet (Refers to an undivided data unit, unlike a fragment that is only part of it.)
|
contiguous block (In memory or storage, data stored in one continuous area rather than as separated fragments.)
Collocations
IP fragments
|packet fragments
|data fragments
|memory fragments
|reassembling fragments
|fragment offset
Themes
technology
|computing
Examples
- The router dropped several packet fragments during the transmission.
- The file system stores the video in multiple fragments across the disk.
- The protocol requires all fragments to arrive before the message can be reassembled.
- If too many small fragments build up in memory, performance may suffer.
- The firewall is configured to block oversized IP fragments.
Learner examples
- The message was split into many small fragments before it was sent.
- The computer joins all the fragments to make the full file again.
- If fragments are lost, the data is not complete.
- Too many small fragments on the disk can slow the system.
- The program reads each fragment and then rebuilds the picture.
Grammar
Dictionary form
fragment
IPA
GB/fɹˈæɡmənt/
US/fɹˈæɡmənt/
Syllables & stress
frag - ment (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (frag)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: fragment
- Plural: fragments
Verb
- Base: fragment
- 3rd Person Singular: fragments
- Present Participle: fragmenting
- Past: fragmented
Word family
Forms
fragments
noun
fragmenting
verb
fragmented
verb
Core family
fragmentation
noun C1
Related words
fragmentary
adjective
Expressions
bone fragment
1/bˈoʊn fɹˈæɡmənt/
fixed phrase
technical
small broken piece of bone
A small piece that has broken off from a bone.
Examples
- The X-ray showed a small bone fragment near the joint.
- Surgeons removed several bone fragments from his knee after the accident.
- Archaeologists identified a bone fragment as part of an ancient animal skeleton.
fragments of memory
1/fɹˈæɡmənts əv mˈɛmɚi/
fixed phrase
small incomplete pieces of memory
Small, not-complete memories of something that happened.
Examples
- He woke up with only fragments of memory from the night before.
- Trauma can leave people with scattered fragments of memory instead of a clear story.
- Over time, only fragments of memory remain from our early childhood.
in fragments
1/ˈɪn fɹˈæɡmənts/
fixed phrase
in many small broken pieces
Broken into many small pieces.
Examples
- After the explosion, the windows were in fragments on the ground.
- The vase lay in fragments at the bottom of the stairs.
- The ancient tablet was found in fragments and had to be carefully rebuilt.
sentence fragment
1/sˈɛntəns fɹˈæɡmənt/
fixed phrase
technical
an incomplete sentence in writing
A group of words that looks like a sentence in writing but is not complete, usually because it has no subject or no main verb.
Examples
- Your answer is not a full sentence; it is a sentence fragment.
- Teachers often ask students to underline each sentence fragment in their homework.
- The textbook gives several examples of common sentence fragments and how to fix them.