See Also: Piece(money)
set piece(dictionary)
one-piece(dictionary)
two-piece(dictionary)
set piece(dictionary)
piece a these(dictionary)
piece(2)(dictionary)
piece(1)(dictionary)
Piece(finance)
Fc piece(medicine)

piece(1) (iou)



piece noun. [pi:s] ME.
[Anglo-Norman pece, Old French piece (mod. piece) from Proto-Romance (cf. medieval Latin petia, pecia, pet(t)ium), prob. of Gaulish origin: cf. PEAT noun1.]
A separate part of a material thing; any of the distinct portions or objects of which a material thing is composed. ME.
base-piece, ear-piece, eyepiece, etc. fig.: W. G. Hardy Suddenly the pieces seemed to fit together.
G. K. Chesterton He slit the paper into about five pieces. Daily Telegraph Still wearing dated, conventional two-piece outfits.
b. spec. Any of the irregular sections of a jigsaw or similar puzzle. E20.
A portion of land, a distinct or enclosed area. ME.
A single, usu. small quantity of a substance or a non-material thing. ME.
J. Moynahan A piece of music like Wagner's Liebestod. G. Vidal Sawing a piece of bacon in half.
A single item of a group or class of similar objects; an article of furniture, luggage, ordnance, etc. ME.
Times Many vital pieces of equipment. R. Rendell She'd got some beautiful furniture in her placevaluable pieces.
b. A musician with his or her instrument, as part of an orchestra or band. E20.
Washington Post Asha's songs were..played..by the eight-piece orchestra.
A person, an individual. Now usu. spec., a young woman, esp. regarded as a sexual object. ME.
J. Heller There was Mary Slocum..a short sexy piece.
a. A period of time; a while. Now dial. ME.
b. A short distance; a part of the way. N. Amer. & dial. LME.
New Yorker He lives down the road a piece.
A part or portion of a non-material thing. LME-M18.
H. Wotton One of the most fastidious pieces of my life.
An instance or specimen of a (material or non-material) thing. LME.
A. C. Ducarel The..screen at the west end of the choir is a beautiful piece of architecture. Day Lewis I do not use the hyphen in my surnamea piece of inverted snobbery.
b. A person regarded as an exemplar of some quality. E17-L18.
A cask of wine or brandy. LME.
A specific length of cloth or wallpaper. LME.
a. An article of armour; a part of a suit of armour. LME.
head-piece, shoulder-piece, thigh-piece, etc.
b. A fortress, a stronghold. E16-E18.
c. A cannon, a large gun. E16.
d. A portable firearm, a handgun. Now chiefly N. Amer. slang. L16.
E. Leonard Vincent..went for his piece yelling..halt or he'd fire.
A coin (freq. with specifying word). Formerly spec. an English gold coin. LME.
R. Brautigan The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece.
Any of the objects used to make moves in a board game such as chess, draughts, backgammon, etc.; spec. (Chess) a chessman other than a pawn. M16.
a. More fully piece of work. A specimen of workmanship; a work of art; spec. (a) a painting; (b) a statue; (c) a play. M16.
b. A (usu. short) literary or musical composition, as a poem, sonata, newspaper article, etc. M16.
K. Clark He wrote..over one hundred symphonies and many hundreds of occasional pieces. G. Keillor I got $6000..for writing a piece about the Grand Ole Opry.
c. A short discourse; a passage for recitation. dial. & N. Amer. M19.
A boat. M16-L17.
A separate article of property in transit, a package; spec. (Hist.) in the N. American fur trade, a package weighing about ninety pounds. Chiefly N. Amer. L18.
A slice of bread and butter, a sandwich; a snack. Scot. & dial. L18.
In pl.
a. In the malting process, grain spread out for steeping. M19.
b. Sugar of a poorer quality obtained from a later boiling of the sugar liquor. M19.
c. Oddments of wool which are detached from the skirtings of a fleece. Also, the skirtings themselves. Chiefly Austral. & NZ. L19.
Foll. by of: a share in, involvement in; a financial interest in (a business, project, etc.). Freq. in a piece of the action below. slang. E20.
A quantity of a drug, esp. morphine or heroin, approximately equal to one ounce. N. Amer. slang. M20.
[from masterpiece.] A particularly elaborate graffito. slang. L20.
Phrases: all of a piece, of a piece consisting of a single piece or mass; fig. (all) of the same kind; uniform, consistent; (foll. by with). all to pieces (a) into many pieces, asunder (go all to pieces = go to pieces below); (b) in many pieces or fragments; (c) dial. & N. Amer. (with appreciative connotation) thoroughly, very well. a piece of the action slang a share of the profits accruing from something; a share in the excitement. bits and pieces: see BIT noun2. blanket-piece: see BLANKET noun 5. by the piece at a rate of so much per fixed amount; (paid) according to the amount of work done. come to pieces: see to pieces below. fall to pieces: see to pieces below. give a piece of one's mind to: see MIND noun1. go to pieces: see to pieces below. into pieces into fragments, asunder; to pieces. in one piece consisting of a single piece or mass; fig. whole, without injury or loss. in pieces (a) broken, in fragments; (b) into fragments, asunder; to pieces. LETTERING piece. love to pieces colloq. love very much. of a piece: see all of a piece above. of one piece = in one piece above. on piece, on the piece doing piece-work. pick to pieces: see to pieces below. piece by piece with one piece or part after another in succession; gradually. piece of arse, piece of ass coarse slang (chiefly N. Amer.) a woman regarded as an object of sexual gratification; sexual intercourse with a woman. piece of cake: see CAKE noun. piece of crumpet: see CRUMPET 5. piece of eight: see EIGHT noun 1. piece of flesh arch. a human being. piece of gold, piece of silver, etc., a gold, silver, etc., coin. piece of goods: see GOOD noun. piece of meat: see MEAT noun. piece of tail coarse slang (chiefly N. Amer. = piece of arse above. piece of water a small lake, a pond. piece of work (a) a task, a difficult thing; colloq. a commotion, a to-do; (b) a person of a specified (usu. unpleasant) kind; freq. in nasty piece of work; (see also sense 14a above). pull to pieces: see to pieces below. to pieces into fragments, asunder; to a state of distraction or confusion; come to pieces, go to pieces, break up, lose cohesion; fig. break down emotionally or mentally; fall to pieces, disintegrate, collapse; dial. & Austral. slang give birth to a child; pick to pieces, pull to pieces, = take to pieces (b) below; take to pieces, (a) separate into component parts, take apart; (b) fig. criticize unfavourably or harshly; refute (an argument etc.) strongly; (see also all to pieces, love to pieces above).
Comb.: piece-bag N. Amer. a bag or box for holding pieces of cloth; piece-broker arch. a dealer in cloth remnants; piece-dye verb trans. dye (cloth) after weaving; piece-goods cloth woven in fixed lengths for sale; piece-mould a sculptor's mould which can be removed in pieces; piece-payment payment by the piece or item produced; piece-price a price paid for piece-work; piece-rate rate of payment for piece-work; piece-work (a) work paid for by the amount produced; (b) = PATCHWORK noun 2; piece-worker: who is paid according to the amount done.
piecewise adverb by pieces; spec. in Math., throughout each of a finite number of pieces but not necessarily throughout the whole: L17.