frag

Frag is a term with multiple meanings across different fields, all tracing back to the idea of a fragment or piece. In military slang, frag commonly denotes a fragmentation grenade or the shrapnel produced by such a device. In computing and gaming, frag has developed specialized senses that are widely understood in those communities.

In video games, a frag is a kill credited to a player. The act of killing another player is often described as fragging, and players are sometimes ranked by their frag count or “top frags.” The term is prevalent in first-person shooters and has become part of esports vocabulary, where teams compete to maximize their frags while minimizing their opponents’.

In military and weapons contexts, a fragmentation grenade, or frag for short, is designed to disperse high-velocity metal fragments upon detonation. The grenade itself, its casing, and the resulting fragmentation are all encompassed by the term frag in common usage. Frag grenades have been standard-issue tools in many armed forces since the mid-20th century and come in various designs with different fuzes and fragmentation patterns.

In computing and digital media, frag is used in several informal ways. It can refer to fragment-related concepts, such as memory fragmentation or data fragments. In computer graphics, fragment (often shortened to frag) describes the processing of a pixel-like unit in the graphics pipeline, with fragment shaders handling color, lighting, and texture application. The term also appears in general discussions about fragmentation in file systems or networks, where data is split into fragments for transmission or storage.