FRAGMENT

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fragment mean? 

• FRAGMENT (noun)
  The noun FRAGMENT has 3 senses:

1. a piece broken off or cut off of something else

2. a broken piece of a brittle artifact

3. an incomplete piece

  Familiarity information: FRAGMENT used as a noun is uncommon.

• FRAGMENT (verb)
  The verb FRAGMENT has 1 sense:

1. break or cause to break into pieces

  Familiarity information: FRAGMENT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRAGMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A piece broken off or cut off of something else

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

a fragment of rock

Hypernyms ("fragment" is a kind of...):

part; piece (a portion of a natural object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fragment"):

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)

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

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

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

filing (a fragment rubbed off by the use of a file)

coal; ember (a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering)

clast ((geology) a constituent fragment of a clastic rock)

cinder; clinker (a fragment of incombustible matter left after a wood or coal or charcoal fire)

brickbat (a fragment of brick used as a weapon)

bit; chip; flake; fleck; scrap (a small fragment of something broken off from the whole)

Derivation:

fragmentary (consisting of small disconnected parts)

fragmentize (break or cause to break into pieces)

fragmental (consisting of small disconnected parts)

fragment (break or cause to break into pieces)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A broken piece of a brittle artifact

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fragment; shard; sherd

Hypernyms ("fragment" is a kind of...):

piece (a separate part of a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fragment"):

potsherd (a shard of pottery)

Derivation:

fragmental; fragmentary (consisting of small disconnected parts)

fragment (break or cause to break into pieces)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An incomplete piece

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

fragments of a play

Hypernyms ("fragment" is a kind of...):

piece (an artistic or literary composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fragment"):

bit; snatch (a small fragment)

Derivation:

fragment (break or cause to break into pieces)

fragmental; fragmentary (consisting of small disconnected parts)

• FRAGMENT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fragment ... he / she / it fragments
Past simple: fragmented   
Past participle: fragmented   
-ing form: fragmenting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break or cause to break into pieces

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break up; fragment; fragmentise; fragmentize

Context example:

The plate fragmented

Hypernyms (to "fragment" is one way to...):

break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fragment"):

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)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody of something

Derivation:

fragment (a broken piece of a brittle artifact)

fragment (an incomplete piece)

fragment (a piece broken off or cut off of something else)

fragmentation (separating something into fine particles)

fragmentation (the scattering of bomb fragments after the bomb explodes)

fragmentation ((computer science) the condition of a file that is broken up and stored in many different locations on a magnetic disk)

fragmentation (the disintegration of social norms governing behavior and thought and social relationships)

 Context examples 

Beta-secretase activity, recently identified as BACE, cleaves in the N-terminus of the beta-amyloid fragment.

(Amyloid Beta-Peptide Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

In vitro, calpain1 directly cleaves p35 to release a fragment with relative molecular mass 25,000.

(Alzheimer's Disease Pathway BioCarta, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This protein fragment is involved in the inhibition of blood vessel formation.

(Angiostatin, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion protein immunotoxin consisting of a humanized, single-chain monoclonal antibody fragment specific for the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) conjugated with a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin A with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Anti-EpCAM Antibody Fragment-Pseudomonas-exotoxin Fusion Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

Subsequently, an HSG peptide-hapten carrying a radionuclide is administered, binding to the anti-HSG binding fragment on the BiMoAb.

(Anti-CEA/Anti-HSG Bispecific Monoclonal Antibody TF2, NCI Thesaurus)

A bispecific monoclonal antibody (BsMAb) consisting of the Fab fragment of an anti-CEA monoclonal antibody (F6) coupled to the Fab fragment of an anti-DTPA-In monoclonal antibody (734) with potential radioimmunotherapeutic activity.

(Anti-CEA/Anti-DTPA-In (F6-734) Bispecific Antibody, NCI Thesaurus)

Proteolytic cleavage of cell-bound PA creates a smaller fragment that then multimerizes into a pore-like structure in the plasma membrane.

(Anthrax Toxin Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Endostatin, a 20 kDa C-terminal proteolytic fragment of collagen XVIII, is an important angiogenesis inhibitor.

(Adenovirus Encoding Recombinant Human Endostatin, NCI Thesaurus)

My estimate is that the probability to be injured by one of these fragments is similar to the probability of being hit by lightning twice in the same year, Krag added.

(Scientists Track Chinese Space Station as It Falls to Earth, VOA)

These small, pollen fragments could, "seed" the creation of clouds.

(Estimating how pollen particles in the atmosphere influence climate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)