defragment
/diːfɹæɡˈmɛnt/ · de.frag.ment
verb
- To run a process that collects fragments of files and sorts them into contiguous sections on one or more hard disks or hard disk partitions, thus speeding up file management. After defragmenting her computer, she noticed a significant improvement in its performance.
verb
- To break down or separate something into its constituent parts. The researcher defragmented the data to analyze its components.
Synonyms
Did you know? The term 'defragment' was first used in the context of disk storage in the 1990s, but its concept dates back to the early days of computing, when data was stored on magnetic tapes and had to be physically rewound and reassembled to access it.