piece

plural pieces · alternative obsolete peece

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

   Near-synonyms: aspect, portion

   3 more examples

   I’d like another piece of pie.

   I've lost a piece of this jigsaw puzzle.

   No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]

   1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, pages 415–416

   Synonyms: component, part, aspect, portion

2. A single item belonging to a class of similar items.

   a piece of software

   5 more examples

   a piece of machinery

   a useful piece of advice

   Meantime the frog had set off to tell God that when men died they would prefer not to come back to life again. Nobody had asked him to give that message; it was a piece of pure officiousness and impertinence on his part.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 62

   "Squalled at me that she owned the business and that she wouldn't take any back talk from me and that the piece wasn't for sale. What could I do?"

   1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 156

   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […]

   2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

3. board gamesOne of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; (by extension) those with which draughts, backgammon, and other similar board games are played.

   Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward.

   1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, section I

   1 more example

   It is not permitted to move a piece to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour. […] Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.

   2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, pages 4, 21

   Synonyms: game piece

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

   a sixpenny piece

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

   period piece

   2 more examples

   She played two beautiful pieces on the piano.

   Now, his pieces are in the collections of institutions like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and The Met, where they operate the way Frey always intended: as works of art.

   2026 May 28, Hannah Martin, “Fancy Baskets”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 97

   Synonyms: composition, musical composition, musical piece, musical work, piece of music, work of music

6. An article published in the press.

   Today's paper has an interesting piece on medical research.

   1 more example

   No, I didn't read the piece on China's faceless masses, I was, I was checking out the lingerie ads.

   1979, Woody Allen, Manhattan, spoken by Isaac Davis (Woody Allen)

7. governmentAn artillery gun.

   […] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them.

   1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 55

8. UScolloquialA gun.

   He's packin' a piece!

   3 more examples

   I wanted peace, but now my piece is clearing out the block.

   2005, “Bloody War”, in Certified, performed by David Banner

   It was do or be done. Get or get gotten. It was self-preservation like I'd never felt before, and when Rome passed me his piece I didn't even hesitate as I raised that bitch in the air and aimed it at Vyreen.

   2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 116

   "This is just a cover story," Clay says to O5-8, not taking his eyes off Marion. "It's a good one, but she's had it worked out in advance." "Clay, lose the piece," says the O5. Grudgingly, Clay does so.

   2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 9

9. CanadaUScolloquialshort for hairpieceA toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.

   The announcer is wearing a new piece.

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

    My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game.

    2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 46

11. UScolloquialvulgarA sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail.

    I got a piece at lunchtime.

12. UScolloquialmildlyvulgarshort for piece of crap/piece of shitA 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. USslangA cannabis pipe.
14. uncountableball gamesUsed 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 get.

    he got a piece of that one; she got a piece of the ball[…]and it's going foul.

15. datedderogatorysometimesAn individual; a person.

    Thy mother was a piece of virtue.

    1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]

    2 more examples

    If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.

    a. 1587 (date written), Phillip Sidney [i.e., Philip Sidney], An Apologie for Poetrie. […], London: […] [James Roberts] for Henry Olney, […], published 1595, →OCLC; republished as Edward Arber, editor, An Apologie for Poetrie (English Reprints), London: [Alexander Murray & Son], 1 April 1868, →OCLC

    His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.

    1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aid to Reflection

16. obsoleteA castle; a fortified building.

    the ranſack of that peece

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XIV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

    1 more example

    Then enteryng into league with Philip the French king, he receyued againe all the holdes and peeces which his father had loſt a little before, […]

    1569, Richard Grafton, “The Seuenth Age, and Seuenth Part of this Chronicle”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume I, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 83

17. USA pacifier; a dummy.

    Synonyms: binky, bink, bo-bo, comforter, dodie, dummy, nookie, paci

18. colloquialA distance or amount.

    a far piece

    2 more examples

    located a fair piece away from their camp

    I never did believe that he was in it. He's a piece too mean-spirited to have the nerve.

    1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

19. hobbiesA structured practice row, often used for performance evaluation.

    That last piece was torture.

    1 more example

    At practice we rowed four 5,000 meter pieces.

20. An amount of work to be done at one time; a unit of piece work.
21. slangAn ounce of a recreational drug.

    In fact, that was back during the era when you could buy a piece of heroin, an ounce of heroin, for $500 and cut it three times for a 3-to-1 cut on it and the dope would still be good.

    2017, Matt Meyer, Déqui Kioni-Sadiki, Sekou Odinga, Look for Me in the Whirlwind

present singular third person pieces · participle present piecing · participle past pieced · past pieced · alternative obsolete peece

1. transitiveusuallyTo assemble (something real or figurative).

   These clues allowed us to piece together the solution to the mystery.

   1 more example

   His adversaries […] pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.

   1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)

2. To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out.

   to piece a garment

   1 more example

   You have broke it, cousin: and , by my life , you shall make it whole again ; you shall piece it out with a piece of your performance

   c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

3. slangTo produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.

   It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing.

   2009, Scape Martinez, GRAFF: The Art & Technique of Graffiti, page 124

   2 more examples

   “It didn't rain, so I decided to come piece with you.[…]” We never finished that piece.

   1994, William Upski Wimsatt, Bomb the Suburbs, revised second edition, Chicago: The Subway and Elevated Press Company, →ISBN, page 7

   It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.

   2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, page 40

4. datedinformalintransitiveoftenwith onchiefly North Midland USTo eat small quantities of food between meals; to snack; to take small or intermittent bites at a food item.

   Do not piece between meals.

   c. 1950, Kansas State Board of Health, Division of Maternal and Child Health Nutrition Service publication, "Proper food before the baby comes", State Library of Kansas, page 2

   2 more examples

   There he was, piecing on the ham.

   1941, Eudora Welty, “Why I Live at the P.O.”, in A Curtain of Green, page 104

   “Piecing” between meals often means eating sweet crackers, candy, or sweet beverages at almost any hour. These taste good but spoil the appetite for more desirable foods. What's eaten between meals should make a real contribution to daily food intake: fruit, or tomato juice, or a small glass of milk, a small peanut butter or cheese sandwich and the like are good choices. And a mid-morning or mid-afternoon pick-up does not interfere with appetite as irregular nibbling or piecing does.

   1956, United States Children's Bureau publication, Your Child from One to Six, US Government Publishing Office, page 46

   Synonyms: nosh, nibble, eat, have, fret