piece
Americannoun
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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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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)
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:
A flamingo windchime and a decorative piece of art from Guadalajara, Mexico hang in front of the entrance of the home of Flamingo Garden Mobile Home Park resident Mariano Silverio Mendoza in Carson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
This latest study, published in the journal European Urology, is another key piece of the jigsaw, which could help lead to a national prostate cancer screening programme in years to come.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
After our 90-minute, $60 tour, Martin sold lobsters to go for $12.50 a piece, regardless of weight—a bargain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
In one of the living spaces, an artistic arched window provides a picturesque view of the property’s gardens—serving almost as a natural art piece in the space, which also boasts a cozy fireplace.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
She’d given me that piece so I’d share the full wheel at home.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
If you have $35,000 in credit-card debt, not only should you cut up your cards, you should take the pieces and burn them on a pyre and vow never to make this mistake again.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
We don’t know much about the tiny pieces of plastic, called microplastics, that have been detected in the human body, but we know they’re there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Drizzle with the melted butter and olive oil, then toss gently until the cracker pieces are coated but not pulverized.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
But unlike pieces of art, there is a big stumbling block to relying on the philanthropy of private estates when it comes to the study of fossils.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The pillowcase had pulled free of the wooden pieces on one side.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The summer squad rebuilding plans are being pieced together in the belief Rashford will not be part of them.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
"If you took all the land on Earth and pieced it together, you would not cover the Pacific Ocean. The oceans are so big, and there's so much left to explore."
From Science Daily ● May 25, 2026
For several years, many of these migrants, virtually all of whom had a pending asylum claim or other temporary legal status, pieced together lives on the margins of the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Thursday brought a swath of economic data that, when pieced together, point to a softening consumer.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
But in the end, books—even magic ones—are only objects pieced together from paper and glue and thread.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Chief government veterinary officer Beth Cookson said scientists were still piecing together the details of how H5 might be spreading.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Ms. Allen adds credibility to these theories, however, by piecing together Richmond’s likely role as the ringleader of the cohort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Trump’s emissaries—his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his realtor friend Steve Witkoff—came close to piecing together such a deal through Pakistan emissaries.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
They spend hours in lines, piecing together meals from whatever they can find, constantly worrying about what to put on the kitchen table tomorrow.
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026
It was interesting piecing together fragments of stories I’d heard from Miss Sadie.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
