Piece

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Piece \Piece\, n. [OE. pece, F. pi[`e]ce, LL. pecia, petia,
     petium, probably of Celtic origin; cf. W. peth a thing, a
     part, portion, a little, Armor. pez, Gael. & Ir. cuid part,
     share. Cf. {Petty}.]
     1. A fragment or part of anything separated from the whole,
        in any manner, as by cutting, splitting, breaking, or


        tearing; a part; a portion; as, a piece of sugar; to break
        in pieces.
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              Bring it out piece by piece.          --Ezek. xxiv.
                                                    6.
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     2. A definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a
        piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper.
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     3. Any one thing conceived of as apart from other things of
        the same kind; an individual article; a distinct single
        effort of a series; a definite performance; especially:
        (a) A literary or artistic composition; as, a piece of
            poetry, music, or statuary.
        (b) A musket, gun, or cannon; as, a battery of six pieces;
            a following piece.
        (c) A coin; as, a sixpenny piece; -- formerly applied
            specifically to an English gold coin worth 22
            shillings.
        (d) A fact; an item; as, a piece of news; a piece of
            knowledge.
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     4. An individual; -- applied to a person as being of a
        certain nature or quality; often, but not always, used
        slightingly or in contempt. "If I had not been a piece of
        a logician before I came to him." --Sir P. Sidney.
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              Thy mother was a piece of virtue.     --Shak.
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              His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is
              in all the world.                     --Coleridge.
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     5. (Chess) One of the superior men, distinguished from a
        pawn.
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     6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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     {Of a piece}, of the same sort, as if taken from the same
        whole; like; -- sometimes followed by with. --Dryden.
  
     {Piece of eight}, the Spanish piaster, formerly divided into
        eight reals.
  
     {To give a piece of one's mind to}, to speak plainly,
        bluntly, or severely to (another). --Thackeray.
  
     {Piece broker}, one who buys shreds and remnants of cloth to
        sell again.
  
     {Piece goods}, goods usually sold by pieces or fixed
        portions, as shirtings, calicoes, sheetings, and the like.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Piece \Piece\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pieced}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Piecing}.]
     1. To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or
        pieces; to patch; as, to piece a garment; -- often with
        out. --Shak.
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     2. To unite; to join; to combine. --Fuller.
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              His adversaries . . . pieced themselves together in
              a joint opposition against him.       --Fuller.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Piece \Piece\, v. i.
     To unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join.
     "It pieced better." --Bacon.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  piece
       n 1: a separate part of a whole; "an important piece of the
            evidence"
       2: an item that is an instance of some type; "he designed a new
          piece of equipment"; "she bought a lovely piece of china";
       3: a portion of a natural object; "they analyzed the river into
          three parts"; "he needed a piece of granite" [syn: {part}]
       4: a musical work that has been created; "the composition is
          written in four movements" [syn: {musical composition}, {opus},
           {composition}, {piece of music}]
       5: an instance of some kind; "it was a nice piece of work"; "he
          had a bit of good luck" [syn: {bit}]
       6: an artistic or literary composition; "he wrote an
          interesting piece on Iran"; "the children acted out a
          comic piece to amuse the guests"
       7: a portable gun; "he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster"
          [syn: {firearm}, {small-arm}]
       8: a serving that has been cut from a larger portion; "a piece
          of pie"; "a slice of bread" [syn: {slice}]
       9: a distance; "it is down the road a piece"
       10: a work of art of some artistic value; "this store sells only
           objets d'art"; "it is not known who created this piece"
           [syn: {objet d'art}, {art object}]
       11: a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by
           some action or condition; "he was here for a little
           while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good
           weather"; "a patch of bad weather" [syn: {while}, {spell},
            {patch}]
       12: a share of something; "a slice of the company's revenue"
           [syn: {slice}]
       13: game equipment consisting of an object used in playing
           certain board games; "he taught me to set up the men on
           the chess board"; "he sacrificed a piece to get a
           strategic advantage" [syn: {man}]
       v 1: to join or unite the pieces of; "patch the skirt" [syn: {patch}]
       2: make by putting pieces together; "She pieced a quilt"; "He
          tacked together some verses" [syn: {assemble}, {put
          together}, {set up}, {tack}, {tack together}] [ant: {disassemble}]
       3: join during spinning; "piece the broken pieces of thread,
          slivers, and rovings"
       4: eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He pieced at the
          sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she
          just nibbles" [syn: {nibble}, {pick}]
       5: repair by adding pieces; "She pieced the china cup" [syn: {patch}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  551 Moby Thesaurus words for "piece":
     Grand Guignol, Nachtmusik, Passion play, Tom show, absolute music,
     actor, adaptation, aesthetic distance, air, air varie, aleatory,
     aleatory music, alike, allotment, allowance, antagonist, antihero,
     antimasque, arrangement, art object, article, ass, assemble,
     audience success, autograph, automatic, babe, baby, bait, ballet,
     bawling-out, beat, big end, bigger half, bishop, bit, bit part,
     bite, blowgun, blowpipe, bolt, bomb, brainchild, break down,
     breeze, bric-a-brac, broad, broadcast drama, broken, budget,
     budget of news, burlesque show, butt, cast, castle, causerie,
     chamber music, chamber orchestra, character, charade, chessman,
     chick, chiding, chip, chunk, cinch, classic, clearance,
     cliff hanger, clip, clipping, closet drama, coil, coin, colleen,
     collop, comedy drama, commission, compass, compose, composition,
     computer printout, connect, contingent, copy, crack up, creation,
     critical success, crown, crumb, crumble, cue, cut, cutie, cutting,
     dame, damoiselle, damsel, daytime serial, deal, deep space,
     demoiselle, depths of space, descant, design, destiny, destroyed,
     dialogue, discourse, discussion, disintegrate, disquisition,
     dissertation, distance, ditty, divergence, dividend, division,
     document, documentary drama, dole, doll, dollop, double eagle,
     doubloon, draft, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series,
     draughtsman, dressing-down, ducat, duodrama, duologue, eagle,
     edited version, electronic music, end, engrossment, epic theater,
     equal share, essay, etude, examination, exclusive, excursus,
     exercise, experimental theater, exposition, extent, extravaganza,
     failure, fair copy, farness, fat part, fate, feature, feeder,
     fiction, filly, final draft, finished version, firearm,
     first approach, first draft, five-dollar gold piece, fix,
     flamethrower, flimsy, flop, fraction, fragment, frail, gal, gasser,
     gat, gather, girl, girlie, giveaway, go to pieces, gob, gobbet,
     gold piece, grotesque, guinea, gun, half, half crown, half eagle,
     halver, handgun, happening, hard money, harmonious, harmonization,
     heater, heavy, heifer, hell, helping, hero, heroine, hit, hit show,
     holding, holograph, homily, hot number, hoyden, hunk, identical,
     improvisational drama, in agreement, in harmony, in keeping,
     in pieces, incidental music, infinity, ingenue, instrumental music,
     interest, introductory study, invention, jeune fille, jill, jingle,
     junior miss, king, kitsch, knight, lass, lassie, lead, lead role,
     lead-pipe cinch, leading lady, leading man, leading woman, lecture,
     leeway, legitimate drama, length, letter, light-years, lines,
     literae scriptae, literary artefact, literary production,
     literature, little missy, lot, lucubration, lump, mademoiselle,
     maid, maiden, man, manuscript, margin, masque, master, masterpiece,
     masterwork, matter, measure, meat, meed, melodrama, melody, member,
     memoir, mend, mess, mileage, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play,
     miss, missy, mobile, modicum, moidore, moiety, monodrama,
     monograph, monologue, morality, morality play, morceau, morsel,
     museum piece, music, music drama, musical revue, musket, mystery,
     mystery play, napoleon, news item, nocturne, nonfiction, note,
     nude, nymphet, old master, opera, opus, orchestration, original,
     outline, pageant, pandect, panel show, pantomime, paper, paragraph,
     parcel, parchment, paring, parsecs, part, particle, pasticcio,
     pastiche, pastoral, pastoral drama, pawn, peashooter, penscript,
     percentage, person, personage, perspective, piece of ass,
     piece of cake, piece of meat, piece of money, piece of silver,
     piece of virtu, piece of writing, piece together, pistol, play,
     playlet, poem, portion, pound sovereign, preliminary study,
     printed matter, printout, problem play, production, program music,
     prolegomenon, proportion, protagonist, psychodrama, put together,
     quantity, quantum, queen, quiz show, quota, radio drama, rake-off,
     range, rasher, ration, reach, reading matter, rebuke, recension,
     remnant, remoteness, repeater, report, reprimand, research paper,
     restore, review, revolver, revue, ricercar, rifle, rod, role, roll,
     roll of coins, romp, rook, rouleau, ruined, run, sample,
     sawed-off shotgun, schoolgirl, schoolmaid, schoolmiss, scolding,
     scoop, score, scrap, screed, scrip, script, scrive, scroll,
     second draft, section, segment, sensational play, separation,
     serial, serving, sex goddess, sex object, sex queen, shard, share,
     shatter, shattered, shaving, shiver, shooting iron, short story,
     shotgun, show, shred, side, similar, sitcom, situation comedy,
     six-gun, six-shooter, sketch, skirt, skit, slice, slip, sliver,
     small share, smashed, smithereen, snack, snap, snatch, snip,
     snippet, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, sonata, sonatina, song,
     soubrette, sovereign, space, span, special article, specie,
     specimen, spectacle, splinter, spot news, stabile, stage play,
     stage show, stake, statue, still life, stitch, stock, story,
     straight drama, straight part, stretch, stride, string orchestra,
     string quartet, strip, stud, study, stump, subdeb, subdebutante,
     subteen, subteener, supporting character, supporting role, survey,
     suspense drama, swatch, tableau, tableau vivant, talk show, taste,
     tatter, teenybopper, teleplay, television drama, television play,
     ten-dollar gold piece, term paper, the same, the written word,
     theater of cruelty, theme, theme and variations, thesis,
     title role, token, tomato, tomboy, tongue-lashing, total theater,
     tract, tractate, transcript, transcription, treatise, treatment,
     trio, tune, twenty-dollar gold piece, typescript, uniform, unite,
     variation, variety show, vaudeville, vaudeville show, vehicle,
     version, villain, virgin, virtu, walk-on, walking part, way, ways,
     wedge, wench, what for, word-of-mouth success, work, work of art,
     writing, young creature, young thing