释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024piece /pis/USA pronunciation n., v., pieced, piec•ing. n. [countable] - a portion or quantity of something:a piece of land.
- a portion of a whole:a piece of apple pie.
- an individual thing of a particular class or set:a piece of furniture.
- a created work of art, music, or writing:He writes funny pieces for that magazine.
- Chessone of the figures, disks, or the like used in playing a board game.
- an example of something:This report is a fine piece of work.
- a part, fragment, or shred:to tear a letter into pieces.
- one's opinion or thoughts on a subject:Here's a piece of advice: don't do it.
- a coin:a five-cent piece.
- an amount of work constituting a single job:to be paid by the piece.Seepiecework.
- Dialect Terms[Midland and Southern U.S.]a distance:[singular* a + ~]down the road a piece.
v. - [~ + object] to mend by adding a piece or pieces;
patch. - to join together, as pieces or parts: [~ + together + object]I pieced together the broken fragments.[~ + object + together]I pieced the fragments together.
- to make or assemble by or as if by joining pieces or facts, information, etc.: [~ + together + object]to piece together such a fine musical program.[~ + object + together]She pieced a fine program together.[~ + together + object]They were finally able to piece together the whole story of his death.
Idioms- Idioms a piece of one's mind, a sharp scolding or piece of criticism:gave his daughter a piece of his mind when she came home so late.
- Idioms go to pieces:
- to lose control of oneself:After her son's death she simply went to pieces.
- in pieces, destroyed;
in ruins; not effective:careful plans of conquest lay in pieces. - Idioms piece of cake, [Informal.]something easily done:Robbing the store was a piece of cake.
- to pieces:
- left completely ruined or no longer effective:tore our arguments to pieces.
Note that since piece is a noun that can be counted, it may be used to describe a part of some noncount noun:lumber[uncountable] →a piece[countable]of lumber; furniture[uncountable] →a piece[countable]of furniture. WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024piece (pēs),USA pronunciation n., v., pieced, piec•ing. n. - 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.
- Textilesa 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, esp. of artistic production, as a picture or a statue:The museum has some interesting pieces by Picasso.
- a literary composition, usually short, in prose or verse.
- a literary selection for recitation:Each child had a chance to recite a piece.
- Music and Dancea 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
- 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.
- Dialect Terms[Midland and Southern U.S.]a distance:I'm going down the road a piece.
- Dialect Terms[Chiefly North Midland U.S.]a snack.
- Dialect TermsAlso called piece′ of ass′. Slang (vulgar).
- coitus.
- a person considered as a partner in coitus.
- give someone a piece of one's mind. See mind (def. 20).
- Idioms 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.
- Idioms of a piece, of the same kind;
harmonious; consistent. Also, of one piece. - Idioms piece of the action. See action (def. 22).
- Idioms 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. v.t. - 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 fol. by out):to piece out a library with new books.
- to make by or as if by joining pieces (often fol. 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.
v.i. - Dialect Terms[Chiefly North Midland U.S.]to eat small portions of food between meals;
snack.
- Gaulish *pettia; akin to Breton pez piece, Welsh, Cornish peth thing
- Old French
- Middle English pece 1175–1225
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged section, segment, scrap, fragment. See part.
- 28.See corresponding entry in Unabridged augment.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged whole.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: piece /piːs/ n - an amount or portion forming a separate mass or structure; bit: a piece of wood
- a small part, item, or amount forming part of a whole, esp when broken off or separated: a piece of bread
- a length by which a commodity is sold, esp cloth, wallpaper, etc
- an instance or occurrence: a piece of luck
- an example or specimen of a style or type, such as an article of furniture: a beautiful piece of Dresden china
- informal an opinion or point of view: to state one's piece
- a literary, musical, or artistic composition
- a coin having a value as specified: fifty-pence piece
- a small object, often individually shaped and designed, used in playing certain games, esp board games: chess pieces
- a firearm or cannon
- any chessman other than a pawn
- Scot English dialect a packed lunch taken to work, school, etc
- go to pieces ⇒ (of a person) to lose control of oneself; have a breakdown
- (of a building, organization, etc) to disintegrate
- nasty piece of work ⇒ Brit informal a cruel or mean person
- of a piece ⇒ of the same kind; alike
vb (transitive)- (often followed by together) to fit or assemble piece by piece
- (often followed by up) to patch or make up (a garment) by adding pieces
Etymology: 13th Century pece, from Old French, of Gaulish origin; compare Breton pez piece, Welsh peth portion |