piece
Americannoun
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pieces
plural
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a separate or limited portion or quantity of something.
a piece of land;
a piece of chocolate.
- Antonyms:
- whole
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a quantity of some substance or material forming a single mass or body.
a nice piece of lumber.
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a more or less definite portion or quantity of a whole.
to cut a blueberry pie into six pieces.
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a particular length, as of certain goods prepared for the market.
cloth sold by the piece.
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an amount of work forming a single job.
to be paid by the piece and not by the hour.
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an example of workmanship, especially of artistic production, as a picture or a statue.
The museum has some interesting pieces by Picasso.
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a literary or journalistic composition, usually short, in prose or verse.
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a literary selection for recitation.
Each child had a chance to recite a piece.
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a musical composition.
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one of the parts that, when assembled, form a whole.
the pieces of a clock.
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an individual article of a set or collection.
a set of dishes containing 100 pieces.
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Games.
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one of the figures, disks, blocks, or the like, of wood, plastic, ivory, or other material, used in playing a board game.
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(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.
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a token, charm, or amulet.
a good-luck piece.
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an individual thing of a particular class or kind.
a piece of furniture;
a piece of drawing paper.
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an example, specimen, or instance of something.
a fine piece of workmanship.
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one of the parts into which a thing is destructively divided or broken; a part, fragment, or shred.
to tear a letter into pieces.
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Informal.
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a rifle, pistol, or other small firearm.
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a cannon or other unit of ordnance.
Each field piece was drawn by six horses.
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a coin.
a five-cent piece.
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Midland and Southern U.S. a distance.
I'm going down the road a piece.
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Chiefly North Midland U.S. a snack.
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Also called piece of ass. Slang: Vulgar.
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Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a person, usually a woman, considered as a sexual partner.
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He's always looking for piece of ass.
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verb (used with object)
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pieces,
present (3rd person singular)
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pieced,
past participle, past
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piecing
present participle
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to mend (a garment, article, etc.) by adding, joining, or applying a piece or pieces; patch.
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to complete, enlarge, or extend by an added piece or something additional (often followed byout ).
to piece out a library with new books.
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to make by or as if by joining pieces (often followed bytogether ).
to piece a quilt;
to piece together a musical program.
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to join together, as pieces or parts.
to piece together the fragments of a broken dish.
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to join as a piece or addition to something.
to piece new wire into the cable.
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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)
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pieces,
present (3rd person singular)
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pieced,
past participle, past
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piecing
present participle
idioms
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of a piece, of the same kind; harmonious; consistent. Also of one piece.
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give someone a piece of one's mind. mind.
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piece of work, an extraordinary person, especially one who has extremely negative qualities.
She's a nasty piece of work!
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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.
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piece of the action. action.
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go to pieces,
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to break into fragments.
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to lose control of oneself; become emotionally or physically upset.
When he flunked out of medical school he went to pieces.
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noun
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an amount or portion forming a separate mass or structure; bit
a piece of wood
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a small part, item, or amount forming part of a whole, esp when broken off or separated
a piece of bread
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a length by which a commodity is sold, esp cloth, wallpaper, etc
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an instance or occurrence
a piece of luck
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slang a girl or woman regarded as an object of sexual attraction
a nice piece
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an example or specimen of a style or type, such as an article of furniture
a beautiful piece of Dresden china
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informal an opinion or point of view
to state one's piece
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a literary, musical, or artistic composition
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a coin having a value as specified
fifty-pence piece
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a small object, often individually shaped and designed, used in playing certain games, esp board games
chess pieces
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a firearm or cannon
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( in combination )
fowling-piece
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any chessman other than a pawn
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a short time or distance
down the road a piece
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dialect
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a slice of bread or a sandwich
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a packed lunch taken to work, school, etc
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(usually plural) fragments of fleece wool See also oddment
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informal to criticize or censure someone frankly or vehemently
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(of a person) to lose control of oneself; have a breakdown
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(of a building, organization, etc) to disintegrate
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informal a cruel or mean person
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of the same kind; alike
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informal something easily obtained or achieved
verb
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(often foll by together) to fit or assemble piece by piece
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(often foll by up) to patch or make up (a garment) by adding pieces
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textiles to join (broken threads) during spinning
Sensitive Note
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.
Usage
Spelling tips for piece The word piece is hard to spell because it’s pronounced exactly the same as the word peace. It can be difficult to remember whether the i or e should come first. How to spell piece: The easiest way to remember how to spell piece is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C, except when it’s pronounced like a long A, as in neighbor and weigh.” To remember whether you should use peace or piece, keep in mind that peace is for Everybody and Anybody (pEAce), while a piece is only for some.
Synonym Usage
See part.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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piecesimple
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piecessimple
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have piecedperfect
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has piecedperfect
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am piecingprogressive
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are piecingprogressive
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is piecingprogressive
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have been piecingperfect progressive
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has been piecingperfect progressive
Past
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piecedsimple
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had piecedperfect
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was piecingprogressive
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were piecingprogressive
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had been piecingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”
Explanation
A piece is a section or a chunk of some larger thing, like a piece of cake or a piece of a broken lamp. You can describe a serving of something, like pie, as a piece, and you can also call an individual item within a larger group a piece, like a piece of furniture or a piece of silverware. In this case, you're not breaking off a piece, but you're describing one thing out of a collection.
Vocabulary lists containing piece
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Every grog tempered vessel examined by the researchers contained what is known as multigenerational grog, in which one fragment of grog contains an even older piece of grog inside it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
"We will likely use some sort of video debate instead, but the assessment piece may be difficult," Paustian said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
It was almost certainly a fresh piece of intelligence, whether true or not.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
And then John can actually bring a piece of himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
And even though I am still messing up on the piece I’m practicing, just holding Grace makes me feel better.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Both kinds of vessels were likely used for preparing and serving food, although the decorated pieces may have been reserved for special events.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
It will not be the last time we see how hard it is to pick up all the pieces.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
The men reportedly used pieces of fish as bait, placing traps outside houses where they knew cats were kept, state media reported.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
“These are the everyday pieces of Bruce that his family and friends will carry with them,” the GoFundMe said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Some were short, chaotic flashes: puzzle pieces that formed an answer about which realm the soul belonged in.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
It’s a collection of songs pieced together from perfect-seeming snippets heard while passing open doors.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
Investigators have pieced together much of what they know about Burke and Hernandez’s allegedly illegal relationship from a search of the singer’s cellphone, which was seized last September.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
They pieced together the story of the people she may have painted in Chennai in India, known then as Madras, including the Nawabs of Arcot, the local Mughal rulers.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Ivana helped run a sporting goods store and pieced together a budget for her daughter’s early career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
She wore earrings and jewelry and moccasins and ribbons pieced together with love and care.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Nearby, teams of archaeologists worked in tents, assembling skeletons out of the discovered bones and piecing together skulls that were destroyed by blunt-force trauma.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Or is there a point at which an elderly parent owes their adult children enough financial information that they’re not left piecing together a life from scratch?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
But things quickly spiral beyond clear narrative recognition, as piecing together the story becomes a puzzle unto itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
DNA from descendants has become essential for identifying more of the Franklin expedition's dead and for piecing together details of the crew's final attempt to escape.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Peter Paul Peckleman’s claim to fame was further confirmation that piecing together the picture puzzle would show Charles how to escape from the library.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
