What does piece mean?

Definitions for piece
pispiece

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word piece.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. piecenoun

    a separate part of a whole

    "an important piece of the evidence"

  2. piecenoun

    an item that is an instance of some type

    "he designed a new piece of equipment"; "she bought a lovely piece of china";

  3. part, piecenoun

    a portion of a natural object

    "they analyzed the river into three parts"; "he needed a piece of granite"

  4. musical composition, opus, composition, piece, piece of musicnoun

    a musical work that has been created

    "the composition is written in four movements"

  5. piece, bitnoun

    an instance of some kind

    "it was a nice piece of work"; "he had a bit of good luck"

  6. piecenoun

    an artistic or literary composition

    "he wrote an interesting piece on Iran"; "the children acted out a comic piece to amuse the guests"

  7. firearm, piece, small-armnoun

    a portable gun

    "he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster"

  8. piece, slicenoun

    a serving that has been cut from a larger portion

    "a piece of pie"; "a slice of bread"

  9. piecenoun

    a distance

    "it is down the road a piece"

  10. objet d'art, art object, piecenoun

    a work of art of some artistic value

    "this store sells only objets d'art"; "it is not known who created this piece"

  11. while, piece, spell, patchnoun

    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"

  12. slice, piecenoun

    a share of something

    "a slice of the company's revenue"

  13. man, pieceverb

    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"

  14. patch, pieceverb

    to join or unite the pieces of

    "patch the skirt"

  15. assemble, piece, put together, set up, tack, tack togetherverb

    create by putting components or members together

    "She pieced a quilt"; "He tacked together some verses"; "They set up a committee"

  16. pieceverb

    join during spinning

    "piece the broken pieces of thread, slivers, and rovings"

  17. nibble, pick, pieceverb

    eat intermittently; take small bites of

    "He pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles"

  18. piece, patchverb

    repair by adding pieces

    "She pieced the china cup"

Wiktionary

  1. piecenoun

    A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.

  2. piecenoun

    A single item belonging to a class of similar items: as, for example, a piece of machinery, a piece of software.

  3. piecenoun

    One of the small objects played in board games, e.g. a pawn or a draught.

  4. piecenoun

    A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.

  5. piecenoun

    An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.

    She played two beautiful pieces on the piano.

  6. piecenoun

    An artillery gun.

  7. piecenoun

    (short for hairpiece); a toupee or wig, usually when worn by a man.

    The announcer is wearing a new piece.

  8. piecenoun

    A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.

  9. piecenoun

    A gun.

    He's packin' a piece!

  10. pieceverb

    (usually with "together"): To reassemble something (real or metaphorically.)

  11. piecenoun

    A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail

    I got a piece at lunchtime.

  12. piecenoun

    (short for "piece of crap") a shoddy or worthless object, usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances.

    Ugh, my new computer is such a piece. I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow.

  13. piecenoun

    A cannabis pipe.

  14. piecenoun

    Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with got, and never used in the plural.

  15. Etymology: pece, from peece, peice et al. and pece, piece et al., apparently from *, *. Ultimate origin uncertain; perhaps from (compare peth, pez, cuid).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. PIECEnoun

    1.A patch. Robert Ainsworth

    Etymology: piece, Fr.

    Bring it out piece by piece. Ezekiel xxiv. 26.

    The chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded to take him by force. Acts.

    These lesser rocks or great bulky stones, that lie scattered in the sea or upon the land, are they not manifest fragments and pieces of these greater masses. Burnet.

    A man that is in Rome can scarce see an object, that does not call to mind a piece of a Latin poet or historian. Addison.

    It is accounted a piece of excellent knowledge, to know the laws of the land. John Tillotson.

    If unnatural, the finest colours are but dawbing, and the piece is a beautiful monster at the best. Dryden.

    Each heav’nly piece unweary’d we compare,
    Match Raphael’s grace with thy lov’d Guido’s air. Alexander Pope.

    He wrote several pieces, which he did not assume the honour of. Addison.

    A piece of ord’nance ’gainst it I have plac’d. William Shakespeare.

    Many of the ships have brass pieces, whereas every piece at least requires four gunners to attend it. Walter Raleigh, Essays.

    Pyrrbus, with continual battery of great pieces, did batter the mount. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

    When he cometh to experience of service abroad, or is put to a piece or a pike, he maketh as worthy a soldier as any nation he meeteth with. Edmund Spenser.

    The ball goes on in the direction of the stick, or of the body of the piece out of which it is shot. George Cheyne.

    When once the poet’s honour ceases,
    From reason far his transports rove;
    And Boileau, for eight hundred pieces,
    Makes Louis take the wall of Jove. Matthew Prior.

    I demand, concerning all those creatures that have eyes and ears, whether they might not have had only one eye and one ear a-piece. Henry More, Antidote against Atheism.

    Truth and fiction are so aptly mix’d,
    That all seems uniform and of a piece. Wentworth Dillon.

    When Jupiter granted petitions, a cockle made request, that his house and his body might be all of a piece. Roger L'Estrange.

    My own is of a piece with his, and were he living, they are such as he would have written. Dryden.

    I appeal to my enemies, if I or any other man could have invented one which had been more of a piece, and more depending on the serious part of the design. Dryden.

    Too justly vanish’d from an age like this;
    Now she is gone, the world is of a piece. Dryden.

    Nothing but madness can please madmen, and a poet must be of a piece with the spectators, to gain a reputation. Dryden.

  2. To Pieceverb

    Etymology: from the noun.

    I speak too long, but ’tis to piece the time,
    To draw it out in length, William Shakespeare, Merch. of Venice.

    If aught within that little seeming substance,
    Or all of it with our displeasure piec’d,
    And nothing more may fitly like your grace,
    She is yours. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Plant it with women as well as men, that it may spread into generations, and not be pieced from without. Francis Bacon.

    He pieces out his wife’s inclination; he gives her folly motion and advantage. William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.

    Whether the piecing out of an old man’s life is worth the pains, I cannot tell. William Temple.

  3. To Pieceverb

    To join; to coalesce; to be compacted.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Let him, that was the cause of this, have power
    To take off so much grief from you, as he
    Will piece up in himself. William Shakespeare.

    The cunning priest chose Plantagenet to be the subject his pupil should personate; because he was more in the present speech of the people, and it pieced better and followed more close upon the bruit of Plantagenet’s escape. Francis Bacon.

ChatGPT

  1. piece

    A piece generally refers to a part or unit of something larger or a segment that has been separated or divided from a whole. It can also refer to an object or item, often associated with an artistic creation or a component of a particular set or collection.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Piecenoun

    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

  2. Piecenoun

    a definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper

  3. Piecenoun

    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

  4. Piecenoun

    a literary or artistic composition; as, a piece of poetry, music, or statuary

  5. Piecenoun

    a musket, gun, or cannon; as, a battery of six pieces; a following piece

  6. Piecenoun

    a coin; as, a sixpenny piece; -- formerly applied specifically to an English gold coin worth 22 shillings

  7. Piecenoun

    a fact; an item; as, a piece of news; a piece of knowledge

  8. Piecenoun

    an individual; -- applied to a person as being of a certain nature or quality; often, but not always, used slightingly or in contempt

  9. Piecenoun

    one of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn

  10. Piecenoun

    a castle; a fortified building

  11. Pieceverb

    to make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; as, to piece a garment; -- often with out

  12. Pieceverb

    to unite; to join; to combine

  13. Pieceverb

    to unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join

  14. Etymology: [OE. pece, F. pice, 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.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Piece

    pēs, n. a part of anything: a single article: a definite quantity, as of cloth or paper: an amount of work to be done at one time: a separate performance: a literary or artistic composition: a gun: a coin: a man in chess or draughts: a person, generally a woman, in contempt.—v.t. to enlarge by adding a piece: to patch.—v.i. to unite by a joining of parts: to join.—n.pl. Piece′-goods, cotton, linen, woollen, or silk fabrics sold retail in varying lengths.—adj. Piece′less, not made of pieces: entire.—adv. Piece′meal, in pieces or fragments: by pieces: little by little: bit by bit: gradually.—adj. made of pieces: single: separate.—ns. Piec′ener, a piecer; Piec′ening, or Piec′ing, the act of mending, esp. the joining of the ends of yarn, thread, &c. so as to repair breaks; Piec′er, a boy or girl employed in a spinning-factory to join broken threads; Piece′work, work done by the piece or quantity rather than by time.—Pièce de résistance, principal piece: chief event or performance: chief dish at a dinner; Piece of eight, the Spanish peso duro ('hard dollar'), bearing the numeral 8, of the value of 8 reals (prob. the sign $ is derived from this); Piece out, to put together bit by bit; Piece up, to patch up.—Give a piece of one's mind, to give a rating frankly to any one's face; Of a piece, as if of the same piece, the same in nature, &c. [O. Fr. piece—Low L. petium, a piece of land—prob. L. pes, pedis, a foot.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. piece

    A general name for any kind of ordnance or musket.

  2. piece

    In heraldry, an ordinary or charge; as, the fesse, the bend, the pale, the bar, the cross, the saltire, the chevron, are called honorable pieces.

Editors Contribution

  1. piece

    A portion of a whole.

    They had every piece of the jigsaw and loved to put it together.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 14, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. Piece

    Piece vs. Peace -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Piece and Peace.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. PIECE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Piece is ranked #139228 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Piece surname appeared 120 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Piece.

    49.1% or 59 total occurrences were Black.
    47.5% or 57 total occurrences were White.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'piece' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1205

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'piece' in Written Corpus Frequency: #688

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'piece' in Nouns Frequency: #274

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce piece?

How to say piece in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of piece in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of piece in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of piece in a Sentence

  1. Patrick Soon-Shiong:

    Everybody is focusing on one little piece of the puzzle, but the tumor is too smart. It has too many fail safes. We need to attack the entire tumor system.

  2. Dan Pfeiffer:

    This would be very challenging, but he certainly has more than earned the right to run if he chooses, but it would be a hard piece of business.

  3. Diosdado Cabello:

    They accuse me of being a drug trafficker without a single piece of evidence and now I’m the bad guy, i feel offended, and none of them even said they’re sorry.

  4. Joe Biden:

    To lose a child, it's like having a piece of your soul ripped away, as a nation we have to ask when in God's name we're going to stand up to the gun lobby.

  5. Patek Philippe Chairman Thierry Stern:

    When you are buy a Patek Philippe, you buy a timeless piece of art, it would be as if you told people to no longer buy paintings but TV screens projecting the image of a painting.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

piece#1#1852#10000

Translations for piece

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"piece." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/piece>.

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