piece

[ pees ]

/ pis /

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See synonyms for: piece / pieces on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

Games.

one of the figures, disks, blocks, or the like, of wood, plastic, ivory, or other material, used in playing a board game.
(in chess) a king, queen, bishop, knight, or rook; a superior man or figure, as distinguished from a pawn: One of the opening principles in chess is piece development.

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.

Informal.

a rifle, pistol, or other small firearm.
a cannon or other unit of ordnance: Each field piece was drawn by six horses.

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 ass .Slang: Vulgar.

Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a person, usually a woman, considered as a sexual partner.
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.

OTHER WORDS FOR piece

1 section, segment, scrap, fragment.

See synonyms for piece on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR piece

1 whole.

See antonyms for piece on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about piece

give someone a piece of one's mind. mind (def. 39).

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, pes(e), pesse, from Old French, from unattested Gaulish pettia; akin to Breton pez “piece,” Welsh, Cornish peth “thing”

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

pi-dog, pidyon haben, pie, piebald, pie cart, piece, piece by piece, pièce de résistance, pièce d'occasion, piece-dyed, piece goods

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use piece in a sentence

“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
Last March they gave Airbus a huge piece of new business, ordering 169 A320s and 65 of the slightly larger A321.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The attempt to “breed back” the Auroch of Teutonic legend was of a piece with the Nazi obsession with racial purity and eugenics.
‘Nazi Cows’ Tried to Kill British Farmer|Tom Sykes|January 6, 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 assure you, no matter how beautifully we play any piece, the minute Liszt plays it, you would scarcely recognize it!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
I was busy loading the piece when an exclamation of surprise from one of the men made me look up.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
There were two battalions, together about a thousand men; and they brought a field-piece with them.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
She got up and stood in front of the fire, having her hand on the chimney-piece and looking down at the blaze.
Confidence|Henry James
With a groan, wrung from the very depths of his heart, he tossed the man a gold-piece; another to the woman.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson

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

slang a 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

informal an 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 Canadian a short time or distancedown the road a piece

Scot and English dialect

a slice of bread or a sandwich
a packed lunch taken to work, school, etc

(usually plural) Australian and NZ fragments of fleece woolSee also oddment (def. 2)

give someone a piece of one's mind informal to 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 work British informal a cruel or mean person

of a piece of the same kind; alike

piece of cake informal something 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

textiles to join (broken threads) during spinning

Word Origin for piece

C13 pece, from Old French, of Gaulish origin; compare Breton pez piece, Welsh peth portion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with piece

piece

In addition to the idioms beginning with piece

piece by piece
piece of ass
piece of cake
piece of change
piece of one's mind
piece of the action
piece together

also see:

all in one piece
conversation piece
go to pieces
museum piece
of a piece
pick apart (to pieces)
pick up the pieces
puff piece
say one's piece
think piece
thrill to pieces
to pieces
villain of the piece

piece

OTHER WORDS FOR piece

OPPOSITES FOR piece

Idioms about piece

Origin of piece

synonym study for piece

usage note for piece

historical usage of piece

OTHER WORDS FROM piece

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH piece

Words nearby piece

Words related to piece

How to use piece in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for piece

Word Origin for piece

Other Idioms and Phrases with piece