fragment
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fragment \Frag"ment\, n. [L. fragmentum, fr. frangere to break:
cf. F. fragment. See {Break}, v. t.]
A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect
part; as, a fragment of an ancient writing.
[1913 Webster]
Gather up the fragments that remain. --John vi. 12.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
fragmentation
fragment
1. <networking> {segmentation}.
2. The process, or result, of splitting a large area of free
memory (on disk or in main memory) into smaller non-contiguous
blocks. This happens after many blocks have been allocated
and freed. For example, if there is 3 kilobytes of free space
and two 1k blocks are allocated and then the first one (at the
lowest address) is freed, then there will be 2k of free space
split between the two 1k blocks. The maximum size block that
could then be allocated would be 1k, even though there was 2k
free. The solution is to "compact" the free space by moving
the allocated blocks to one end (and thus the free space to
the other).
As modern file systems are used and files are deleted and
created, the total free space becomes split into smaller
non-contiguous blocks (composed of "{clusters}" or "{sectors}"
or some other unit of allocation). Eventually new files being
created, and old files being extended, cannot be stored each
in a single contiguous block but become scattered across the
file system. This degrades performance as multiple {seek}
operations are required to access a single fragmented file.
Defragmenting consolidates each existing file and the free
space into a continuous group of sectors. Access speed will
be improved due to reduced seeking.
The rate of fragmentation depends on the {algorithm} used to
allocate space and the number and position of free sectors. A
nearly-full file system will fragment more quickly.
{MS-DOS} and {Microsoft Windows} use the simplest algorithm to
allocate free clusters and so fragmentation occurs quickly. A
disk should be defragmented before fragmentation reaches 10%.
See {garbage collection}.
(1997-08-29)
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
181 Moby Thesaurus words for "fragment":
abrade, ace, ana, analects, anthology, atom, atomize, beat, bit,
bray, break into pieces, break to pieces, break up, brecciate,
burst, butt, chip, chunk, cleave, clip, clipping, clippings,
collectanea, collection, collop, come apart, comminute,
contriturate, crash, crumb, crumble, crunch, crush, cut,
cut to pieces, cutting, cuttings, dab, debris, demolish, diffuse,
disassemble, disintegrate, dismantle, disperse, disrupt, dole,
dollop, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, dwarf, end, excerpta,
excerpts, explode, extracts, farthing, fission, fleck, florilegium,
flour, flowers, flyspeck, fragments, gleanings, go to pieces, gob,
gobbet, grain, granulate, granule, granulize, grate, grind,
grind to powder, groat, hair, handful, hunk, iota, jot, levigate,
little, little bit, lota, lump, make mincemeat of, mash, mill,
mince, minim, minimum, minutiae, miscellanea, miscellany, mite,
modicum, moiety, molecule, morsel, mote, nutshell, ounce, paring,
part, particle, pash, pebble, pestle, pick to pieces, piece, pinch,
pittance, point, portion, pound, powder, pull in pieces,
pull to pieces, pulverize, rasher, reduce to powder,
reduce to rubble, remnant, rend, rive, scatter, scoop, scrap,
scrunch, scruple, shard, shatter, shaving, shiver, shred, slice,
sliver, smash, smash up, smatter, smidgen, smitch, smithereen,
smithereens, snack, snatch, snip, snippet, speck, splinter, split,
split up, spoonful, spot, squash, squish, stitch, stump, sunder,
take apart, tatter, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to shreds,
tear to tatters, thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, total,
trifling amount, triturate, trivia, unbuild, undo, unmake, whit,
wrack up, wreck
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