PIECE

firearm, piece, small-arm

(noun) a portable gun; “he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster”

man, piece

(noun) 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”

piece

(noun) a separate part of a whole; “an important piece of the evidence”

piece, part

(noun) an item that is an instance of some type; “he designed a new piece of equipment”; “she bought a lovely piece of china”; “my dog swallowed a Lego part”

piece

(noun) a distance; “it is down the road a piece”

piece

(noun) an artistic or literary composition; “he wrote an interesting piece on Iran”; “the children acted out a comic piece to amuse the guests”

piece, bit

(noun) an instance of some kind; “it was a nice piece of work”; “he had a bit of good luck”

piece, slice

(noun) a serving that has been cut from a larger portion; “a piece of pie”; “a slice of bread”

part, piece

(noun) a portion of a natural object; “they analyzed the river into three parts”; “he needed a piece of granite”

slice, piece

(noun) a share of something; “a slice of the company’s revenue”

while, piece, spell, patch

(noun) 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”

piece, patch

(verb) repair by adding pieces; “She pieced the china cup”

nibble, pick, piece

(verb) eat intermittently; take small bites of; “He pieced at the sandwich all morning”; “She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles”

piece

(verb) join during spinning; “piece the broken pieces of thread, slivers, and rovings”

patch, piece

(verb) to join or unite the pieces of; “patch the skirt”

assemble, piece, put together, set up, tack, tack together

(verb) create by putting components or members together; “She pieced a quilt”; “He tacked together some verses”; “They set up a committee”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

piece (plural pieces)

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

A single item belonging to a class of similar items

(chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; by extension, a similar counter etc. in other games.

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

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

Synonym: Thesaurus:musical composition

An article published in the press.

(military) An artillery gun.

(US, colloquial) A gun.

(US, Canada, colloquial, short for hairpiece) A toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.

(Scotland, Ireland, UK, US, dialectal) A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.

(US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail

(US, colloquial, mildly, vulgar, short for piece of crap/piece of shit) A shoddy or worthless object (usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances).

(US, slang) A cannabis pipe.

(baseball, uncountable) 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.

(dated, sometimes, derogatory) An individual; a person.

(obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.

(US) A pacifier; a dummy.

Synonym: Thesaurus:pacifier

(colloquial) A distance.

(rowing) A structured practice row, often used for performance evaluation.

An amount of work to be done at one time; a unit of piece work.

Synonyms

• See also piece

Usage notes

When used as a baseball term, the term is figurative in that the baseball is almost never broken into pieces. It is rare in modern baseball for the cover of a baseball to even partially tear loose. In professional baseball, several new, not previously played baseballs are used in each game.

It could be argued that the phrase was never meant (not even metaphorically) to refer to breaking the ball into pieces, and that "get a piece of the ball" means the bat contacts only a small area of the ball - in other words, that the ball is hit off-center. In that case "get" would mean "succeed in hitting", not "obtain".

Verb

piece (third-person singular simple present pieces, present participle piecing, simple past and past participle pieced)

(transitive, usually, with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).

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

(slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.

Source: Wiktionary

Piece, n. Etym: [OE. pece, F. pièce, 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. Bring it out piece by piece. Ezek. xxiv. 6.

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

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.

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. Thy mother was a piece of virtue. Shak. His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world. Coleridge. a piece of cake, a task easily accomplished. a piece of work, a disparaging term for a person considered to have an excess of some undesirable quality; esp. difficult or eccentric person. Piece of ass vulgar term for a woman, considered as a partner in sexual intercourse

5. (Chess)

Definition: One of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn.

6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] Spenser. 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). Tackeray.

– 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.

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.

2. To unite; to join; to combine. Fuller. His adversaries . . . pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him. Fuller.

Piece, v. i.

Definition: To unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join. "It pieced better." Bacon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

PIECE

Etymology

Noun

Synonyms

Usage notes

Verb

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