piece: Meaning and Definition of

piece

Pronunciation: (pēs), [key]
— n., v., pieced, piec•ing.
—n.
  1. a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
  2. a quantity of some substance or material forming a single mass or body: a nice piece of lumber.
  3. a more or less definite portion or quantity of a whole: to cut a blueberry pie into six pieces.
  4. a particular length, as of certain goods prepared for the market: cloth sold by the piece.
  5. an amount of work forming a single job: to be paid by the piece and not by the hour.
  6. an example of workmanship, esp. of artistic production, as a picture or a statue: The museum has some interesting pieces by Picasso.
  7. a literary composition, usually short, in prose or verse.
  8. a literary selection for recitation: Each child had a chance to recite a piece.
  9. a musical composition.
  10. one of the parts that, when assembled, form a whole: the pieces of a clock.
  11. an individual article of a set or collection: a set of dishes containing 100 pieces.
  12. to take a rook, a bishop, and other pieces.
    1. one of the figures, disks, blocks, or the like, of wood, ivory, or other material, used in playing, as on a board or table.
    2. (in chess) a superior man, as distinguished from a pawn:to take a rook, a bishop, and other pieces.
  13. a token, charm, or amulet: a good-luck piece.
  14. an individual thing of a particular class or kind: a piece of furniture; a piece of drawing paper.
  15. an example, specimen, or instance of something: a fine piece of workmanship.
  16. one of the parts into which a thing is destructively divided or broken; a part, fragment, or shred: to tear a letter into pieces.
  17. field piece.
    1. a soldier's rifle, pistol, etc.
    2. a cannon or other unit of ordnance:field piece.
  18. a coin: a five-cent piece.
  19. a distance: I'm going down the road a piece.
  20. a snack.
  21. Also called .
    1. coitus.
    2. a person considered as a partner in coitus.
  22. See(def. 20).
  23. When he flunked out of medical school he went to pieces.
    1. to break into fragments.
    2. to lose control of oneself; become emotionally or physically upset:When he flunked out of medical school he went to pieces.
  24. of the same kind; harmonious; consistent.
  25. See(def. 22).
  26. to express one's opinion; reveal one's thoughts upon a subject: I decided to speak my piece whether they liked it or not.
—v.t.
  1. to mend (a garment, article, etc.) by adding, joining, or applying a piece or pieces; patch.
  2. to complete, enlarge, or extend by an added piece or something additional (often fol. by out): to piece out a library with new books.
  3. to make by or as if by joining pieces (often fol. by together): to piece a quilt; to piece together a musical program.
  4. to join together, as pieces or parts: to piece together the fragments of a broken dish.
  5. to join as a piece or addition to something: to piece new wire into the cable.
  6. to assemble into a meaningful whole by combining available facts, information, details, etc.: He pieced the story together after a lot of effort.
—v.i.
  1. to eat small portions of food between meals; snack.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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