a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
a quantity of some substance or material forming a single mass or body: a nice piece of lumber.
a more or less definite portion or quantity of a whole: to cut a blueberry pie into six pieces.
a particular length, as of certain goods prepared for the market: cloth sold by the piece.
an amount of work forming a single job: to be paid by the piece and not by the hour.
an example of workmanship, especially of artistic production, as a picture or a statue: The museum has some interesting pieces by Picasso.
a literary or journalistic composition, usually short, in prose or verse.
a literary selection for recitation: Each child had a chance to recite a piece.
a musical composition.
one of the parts that, when assembled, form a whole: the pieces of a clock.
an individual article of a set or collection: a set of dishes containing 100 pieces.
Chess, Checkers.
one of the figures, disks, blocks, or the like, of wood, ivory, or other material, used in playing, as on a board or table.
(in chess) a superior man, as distinguished from a pawn: to take a rook, a bishop, and other pieces.
a token, charm, or amulet: a good-luck piece.
an individual thing of a particular class or kind: a piece of furniture; a piece of drawing paper.
an example, specimen, or instance of something: a fine piece of workmanship.
one of the parts into which a thing is destructively divided or broken; a part, fragment, or shred: to tear a letter into pieces.
Military.
a soldier's rifle, pistol, etc.
a cannon or other unit of ordnance: field piece.
a coin: a five-cent piece.
Midland and Southern U.S.a distance: I'm going down the road a piece.
Chiefly North Midland U.S.a snack.
Also called piece of assSlang: Vulgar.
Usually Disparaging and Offensive.a person, usually a woman, considered as a sexual partner: He finally got himself a piece of ass.
sexual intercourse: He's always looking for piece of ass.
verb (used with object),pieced,piec·ing.
to mend (a garment, article, etc.) by adding, joining, or applying a piece or pieces; patch.
to complete, enlarge, or extend by an added piece or something additional (often followed by out): to piece out a library with new books.
to make by or as if by joining pieces (often followed by together): to piece a quilt; to piece together a musical program.
to join together, as pieces or parts: to piece together the fragments of a broken dish.
to join as a piece or addition to something: to piece new wire into the cable.
to assemble into a meaningful whole by combining available facts, information, details, etc.: He pieced the story together after a lot of effort.
verb (used without object),pieced,piec·ing.
Chiefly North Midland U.S.to eat small portions of food between meals; snack.
Idioms for piece
give someone a piece of one's mind. mind (def. 38).
go to pieces,
to break into fragments.
to lose control of oneself; become emotionally or physically upset: When he flunked out of medical school he went to pieces.
of a piece, of the same kind; harmonious; consistent.Also of one piece.
piece of the action. action (def. 23).
piece of work, an extraordinary person, especially one who has extremely negative qualities: She's a nasty piece of work!
speak one's piece, to express one's opinion; reveal one's thoughts upon a subject: I decided to speak my piece whether they liked it or not.
Origin of piece
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English pece, from Old French, from unattested Gaulish pettia; akin to Breton pez “piece,” Welsh, Cornish peth “thing”
SYNONYMS FOR piece
1 section, segment, scrap, fragment.
23 augment.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR piece ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR piece
1 whole.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR piece ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for piece
1. See part.
usage note for piece
The meanings “sexual intercourse” and “sexual partner” are both vulgar slang. When referring to a person, the term piece is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting.
historical usage of piece
English piece comes from Middle English pece, peece, piece, from Anglo-French peece, pees, peice and Old French pece, pice. Other Western Romance languages share variations of the same word: Provençal pessa, pesa, Spanish pieza, Catalan peça, Portuguese peça, Italian pezza. These Romance forms correspond to Medieval Latin pecia, petia “a bit, portion, coin” (compare two bits , a dated American slang term for "twenty-five cents"). The Medieval Latin form has no Latin origin but probably originates in a Gaulish noun pettiā, which explains why there is no cognate word in Romanian ( piece in Romanian is bucată ). The American colloquialism wanna get a piece of me? (a challenge to a fight) dates back to 1953; piece in the derogatory sense “girl or woman (regarded as a sex object)” dates back to the 16th century; piece of ass to 1857; and (nasty) piece of work dates from the 18th century.
OTHER WORDS FROM piece
mul·ti·piece,adjectiveun·pieced,adjective
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH piece
peace, piece
Words nearby piece
pie, piebald, piebaldness, piebald skin, pie cart, piece, piece by piece, pièce de résistance, pièce d'occasion, piece-dyed, piece goods
“It was ludicrous,” she said of the piece, which ran in June.
Former Pence aide says she will vote for Biden because of Trump’s ‘flat out disregard for human life’ during pandemic|Josh Dawsey|September 17, 2020|Washington Post
Likewise, I may update this piece as more information becomes available.
Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.|Sigal Samuel|September 17, 2020|Vox
You start with a theory of small pieces, say the atoms in a billiard ball.
How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics|Charlie Wood|September 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine
What to remember when casting your ballotThe most important piece of advice you’ll need when voting, early or not, is to follow directions carefully.
Why you should vote as early as possible (and how to do it)|John Kennedy|September 17, 2020|Popular Science
So some of the people I spoke to while reporting this piece explained that there are some inconsistencies between the decree that brought in this database and the data sharing and the new data law, the LGPD.
Podcast: COVID-19 is helping turn Brazil into a surveillance state|Anthony Green|September 16, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The well, ghost or no ghost, is certainly a piece of history with a bold presence.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
My doctor insisted that once I filed this piece I lie down on my bed and not get out.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
However, an article designed to act as a tie-in to the piece has been published as planned in the BBC magazine Radio Times.
Pulled Documentary Says William Felt ‘Used’ by Charles’ Push for Camilla|Tom Sykes|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I did a piece for Elle about the effort to remake her into an elegant presence fashion-wise.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I think a certain kind of compelling essay has a piece of that.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A piece of old carpet was my saddle, and served me likewise for a seat, a table, and various other purposes.
Travels in Arabia|Bayard Taylor
A player who gives the odds of a piece, may give it each game from the king's or queen's side, at his option.
Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million|Sarah Josepha Hale
The most perfect arrangement can be obtained by getting a watchmaker to drill a fine hole through a piece of sheet metal.
Photographic Amusements, Ninth Edition|Walter E. Woodbury and Frank R. Fraprie
Of course they had no boat, and the only way they could get back to the ship was to float on one piece of ice to another.
Grenfell: Knight-Errant of the North|Fullerton Waldo
The gunner was yearning for this, and the bellow of his piece responded to the captain's words.
Mary Anerley|R. D. Blackmore
British Dictionary definitions for piece
piece
/ (piːs) /
noun
an amount or portion forming a separate mass or structure; bita piece of wood
a small part, item, or amount forming part of a whole, esp when broken off or separateda piece of bread
a length by which a commodity is sold, esp cloth, wallpaper, etc
an instance or occurrencea piece of luck
slanga girl or woman regarded as an object of sexual attractiona nice piece
an example or specimen of a style or type, such as an article of furniturea beautiful piece of Dresden china
informalan opinion or point of viewto state one's piece
a literary, musical, or artistic composition
a coin having a value as specifiedfifty-pence piece
a small object, often individually shaped and designed, used in playing certain games, esp board gameschess pieces
a firearm or cannon
(in combination)fowling-piece
any chessman other than a pawn
US and Canadiana short time or distancedown the road a piece
Scot and Englishdialect
a slice of bread or a sandwich
a packed lunch taken to work, school, etc
(usually plural)Australian and NZfragments of fleece woolSee also oddment (def. 2)
give someone a piece of one's mindinformalto criticize or censure someone frankly or vehemently
go to pieces
(of a person) to lose control of oneself; have a breakdown
(of a building, organization, etc) to disintegrate
nasty piece of workBritishinformala cruel or mean person
of a pieceof the same kind; alike
piece of cakeinformalsomething easily obtained or achieved
verb(tr)
(often foll by together)to fit or assemble piece by piece
(often foll by up)to patch or make up (a garment) by adding pieces
textilesto join (broken threads) during spinning
See also piece out
Word Origin for piece
C13 pece, from Old French, of Gaulish origin; compare Breton pez piece, Welsh peth portion