piece
(pēs)
[Middle English pece, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin* pettia, probably of Celtic origin.]
noun
- A thing considered as a unit or an element of a larger thing, quantity, or class; a portion: a piece of string.
- A portion or part that has been separated from a whole: a piece of cake.
- An object that is one member of a group or class: a piece of furniture.
- An artistic, musical, or literary work or composition: “They are lively and well-plotted pieces, both in prose” (Tucker Brooke)
- An instance; a specimen: a piece of sheer folly.
- A declaration of one's opinions or findings: speak one's piece.
- A coin: a ten-cent piece.
- Games
- One of the counters or figures used in playing various board games.
- Any one of the chess figures other than a pawn.
- Slang A firearm, especially a rifle.
- Informal A given distance: “There was farm country down the road on the right a piece” (James Agee)
- Vulgar Slang A sexually attractive person.
transitive verb: pieced, piec·ing, piec·es.
- To mend by adding pieces or a piece to.
- To join or unite the pieces of: He pieced together the vase. She pieced together an account of what had gone on during the stormy meeting.
idioms
- a piece of (one's) mind
- Frank and severe criticism; censure.
- of a piece
- Belonging to the same class or kind.
- piece by piece
- In stages: took the clock apart piece by piece.
- piece of cake
- Informal Something very easy to do: “Relearning to fly was a piece of cake” (Burton Bernstein)
- piece of the action
- A share of an activity or of profits: “a piece of the action in a Florida land deal” (Shana Alexander)
- piece of work
- A remarkable person, achievement, or product: “He's a very tough piece of work” (Ted Koppel)
