piece goods

American  

plural noun

1. goods, especially fabrics, sold at retail by linear measure.

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piece goods British  

plural noun

1. Also called: yard goods.  goods, esp fabrics, made in standard widths and lengths

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Etymology

Origin of piece goods

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

Severely affected were Japanese mills which used to export large quantities of cheap piece goods to India.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1941, when piece goods were scarce, Kahn took a chance on Manchester.

From Time Magazine Archive

Inexpensive needles, thread, piece goods, fancy notions, buttons and furbelows, even snake oil, but these were what the pioneers needed � the thousand tiny common denominators of civilization.

From Time Magazine Archive

What Japan wants to sell is Japanese cotton piece goods, Manchurian soya beans and such.

From Time Magazine Archive

Borgenicht worked in piece goods for a man named Epstein, then moved on to a store in neighboring Jaslow called Brandstatter’s.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell