frag·ment
ˈfrag-mənt 
: a part broken off, detached, or incomplete
The dish lay in fragments on the floor.
frag·ment
ˈfrag-ˌment
fragmented; fragmenting; fragments
: to fall to pieces
: to break up or apart into fragments
Synonyms
Examples of fragment in a Sentence
Noun
The dish lay in fragments on the floor.
I could only hear fragments of their conversation.
Verb
The party is fragmenting into warring factions.
These issues are fragmenting our society.
property being fragmented into subdivisions
Recent Examples on the Web
Megan Molteni, STAT, 26 Apr. 2024
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discovered fragments of the inactivated H5N1 bird flu virus in milk purchased from stores around the country.
—Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024
In late February, NASA’s TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian Cosmos 2221 nearly avoided crashing into one another, which would have added thousands of space junk fragments in low Earth orbit.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
While found in the Grand Canyon, the Clovis fragment wasn’t from here, but originated in the Chuska Mountains.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
One fragment of a bullet was removed from her aorta, the body’s main artery that connects directly to the heart.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Apr. 2024
Otero added an image of the debris fragment, which looked unrecognizable.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Several artifacts — including pottery fragments, a stone carved in the shape of a deity and ancient Roman coins — were found in the spring.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
The recent excavations revealed numerous artifacts—including pottery, two bone combs and fragments of glass from a drinking vessel—dating to this period.
—Aaron Boorstein, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
Others say, however, that the ever-finer sorting of people into racial and ethnic silos will only further fragment a deeply split nation.
—Michael Wines, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
These challenges are interconnected with changing buyer behavior, as silos may fragment the buyer experience across the full lifecycle of interactions.
—Forrester, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Hamas is currently fragmented, with leadership split geographically between Doha, Qatar, and inside the Gaza Strip.
—NBC News, 2 Feb. 2024
This finding provided a ray of hope for the bird’s conservation, as many of Singapore’s forested areas were already fragmented and degraded due to widespread urbanization.
—Anne Pinto-Rodrigues, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Moreover, consolidation entails more than simply offering an interface where users can search various applications within a single interface while data is still fragmented.
—Amit Verma, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Maryland’s biotech landscape is fragmented with significant activities in Montgomery and Frederick counties and, of course, Baltimore.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
What’s the reasoning behind buying these entities at a time when so much media is fragmenting?
—Lachlan Cartwright, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024
Noun
On Friday, the FDA issued an update saying that tests of several samples of retail powdered infant and toddler formula were negative, indicating no presence of H5N1 viral fragments or whole virus.
—Megan Molteni, STAT, 26 Apr. 2024
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discovered fragments of the inactivated H5N1 bird flu virus in milk purchased from stores around the country.
—Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024
In late February, NASA’s TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian Cosmos 2221 nearly avoided crashing into one another, which would have added thousands of space junk fragments in low Earth orbit.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
While found in the Grand Canyon, the Clovis fragment wasn’t from here, but originated in the Chuska Mountains.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
One fragment of a bullet was removed from her aorta, the body’s main artery that connects directly to the heart.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Apr. 2024
Otero added an image of the debris fragment, which looked unrecognizable.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Several artifacts — including pottery fragments, a stone carved in the shape of a deity and ancient Roman coins — were found in the spring.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
The recent excavations revealed numerous artifacts—including pottery, two bone combs and fragments of glass from a drinking vessel—dating to this period.
—Aaron Boorstein, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
Verb
Deforestation and human settlement fragment their habitat, while poaching and unstable politics in the region hinder conservation efforts.
—Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
Others say, however, that the ever-finer sorting of people into racial and ethnic silos will only further fragment a deeply split nation.
—Michael Wines, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
These challenges are interconnected with changing buyer behavior, as silos may fragment the buyer experience across the full lifecycle of interactions.
—Forrester, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Hamas is currently fragmented, with leadership split geographically between Doha, Qatar, and inside the Gaza Strip.
—NBC News, 2 Feb. 2024
This finding provided a ray of hope for the bird’s conservation, as many of Singapore’s forested areas were already fragmented and degraded due to widespread urbanization.
—Anne Pinto-Rodrigues, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Moreover, consolidation entails more than simply offering an interface where users can search various applications within a single interface while data is still fragmented.
—Amit Verma, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Maryland’s biotech landscape is fragmented with significant activities in Montgomery and Frederick counties and, of course, Baltimore.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
What’s the reasoning behind buying these entities at a time when so much media is fragmenting?
—Lachlan Cartwright, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fragment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fragment
Cite this Entry
“Fragment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fragment. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
fragment
noun
frag·ment
ˈfrag-mənt
: a part broken off or detached
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