piece
[noun]
Synonyms:
- bit, chunk, fragment, morsel, part, portion, quantity, segment, slice
- work, article, composition, creation, item, study, work of art

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English Thesaurus: article, story, piece, feature, review, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. piece¹ S1 W1 /piːs/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French; Origin: Vulgar Latin pettia]

1. AMOUNT an amount of something that has been separated from the main part
piece of
He broke off a piece of bread and gave it her.
Cut off a piece of wood 5 cm in length.
His trousers were held up with a piece of string.
Would you like a small or a large piece?
cut/divide etc something into pieces
She cut the cake into four equal pieces.
Chop the potato into bite-sized pieces.

2. PART one of the parts that something divides or breaks into
piece of
a piece of broken glass
Individual pieces of text can be cut and pasted to their correct position.
in pieces
The china dish lay in pieces on the floor.
jigsaw pieces
His father had taught him how to take a gun to pieces.
The shelving comes to pieces (=divides into separate parts) for easy transport.
The shower head just came to pieces (=broke into separate parts) in my hand.
The fireplace was carefully dismantled piece by piece (=one part at a time).

3. SINGLE ITEM a single thing of a particular type, or something that is one of several similar things
piece of
Pass me another piece of paper.
You should eat three pieces of fruit a day.
She was wearing a single piece of jewellery.
You need to examine every piece of evidence first.
an excellent piece of work
a major piece of legislation
a piece of equipment
four-piece/60-piece etc (=consisting of four, 60 etc separate parts)
a five-piece band
a three-piece suite (=two chairs and a sofa)

4. SMALL AMOUNT [usually singular] a small amount of something that is interesting, useful, or unusual in some way
piece of advice/information/gossip etc
Let me give you a piece of advice.
We’re witnessing a piece of history in the making.
piece of luck/good fortune
It really was an extraordinary piece of luck.

5. LAND an area of land
piece of
a piece of waste ground
a dispute about a piece of land

6. fall to pieces
a) to become old and in bad condition:
All my clothes are falling to pieces.
They’ve let that lovely old house fall to pieces around them.
b) to no longer be successful or working well:
The economy is falling to pieces.

7. go to pieces if a person or what they do goes to pieces, they are so upset or nervous that they cannot live, work, or perform as they should:
He just went to pieces after his wife died.
Her performance goes to pieces when her father is watching.

8. smash/rip/tear something to pieces to damage something badly by breaking it into many parts:
His arm was ripped to pieces by a shark.
Wear thick gloves, otherwise you’ll tear your fingers to pieces.

9. pull/rip/tear somebody/something to pieces to criticize someone or their ideas very severely:
Donna could tear your work to pieces, and frequently did.

10. ART/MUSIC ETC something that has been produced by an artist, musician, or writer
piece of music/writing/sculpture etc
some unusual pieces of sculpture
The LSO will perform a much-loved concert piece.

11. NEWS ITEM a short article in a newspaper or magazine or part of a television or radio programme that is about a particular subject
piece about/on
Did you read that piece in ‘The Observer’ about censorship?
Robert wrote a short piece on the earthquake.

12. in one piece informal if you arrive somewhere in one piece, you are not injured:
Cheer up. At least you’re still in one piece.
Ring Mum and let her know we got here in one piece.

13. give somebody a piece of your mind informal to tell someone that you are very angry with them:
After the game he gave the players a piece of his mind.

14. be a piece of cake informal to be very easy to do:
Landing this type of aircraft is a piece of cake for an experienced pilot.

15. be a piece of piss British English spoken not polite to be very easy to do

16. a piece of the action informal a share of the money from a business activity:
And will foreign firms get a piece of the action?

17. be (all) of a piece
a) if the things someone says or does are all of a piece, they are part of the typical behaviour of that person
be (all) of a piece with
Sexist language is all of a piece with the way some men treat women.
b) to be the same or similar in all parts:
The architecture here is all of a piece.

18. MONEY
a) a coin of a particular value
ten pence/50-cent etc piece
Have you change for a 50-cent piece?
b) old use a coin:
Robert slipped two gold pieces into the man’s hand.

19. GAMES a small object used in a game such as chess

20. GUN American English informal a small gun

21. be a (real) piece of work spoken informal especially American English to be someone who does nasty things or deceives people in order to get what they want

22. be a piece of shit/crap spoken not polite used to show that you do not respect someone or something they say

23. piece of ass American English informal not polite an offensive expression for a woman. Do not use this expression.
⇒ how long is a piece of string? at long¹(9)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. piece² verb
piece something ↔ together phrasal verb

1. to use all the information you have about a situation in order to discover the truth about it:
Police are trying to piece together his movements before the murder.
Her early life has been pieced together from several different sources.

2. to put all the separate parts of an object into the correct order or position:
He slowly pieced together the torn fragments of a letter.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

piece
noun
I. separate amount; parts of sth
ADJ. big, huge, large, long | little, short, small, tiny The plate smashed into little pieces on the stone floor.
bite-sized The book breaks the information into bite-sized pieces.
equal | odd She makes her sculptures out of odd pieces of scrap metal.
PREP. in ~s The vase was now in pieces on the kitchen floor.
~ of a piece of bread A few pieces of the jigsaw were missing.
PHRASES bits and pieces I just need to get a few bits and pieces at the supermarket.
break/smash into pieces The cake just broke into pieces when I cut it.
come to pieces This chair comes to pieces.
fall to pieces My old dictionary is falling to pieces.
piece by piece We'll need to take the engine apart, piece by piece.
smash sth to pieces, take sth to pieces Can I take this jigsaw to pieces?
tear sth into/to pieces She tore the letter into tiny pieces.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

piece
II. of art/music/writing, etc.
ADJ. amazing, beautiful, brilliant, fine, good, impressive, lovely, magnificent, marvellous, remarkable, superb, wonderful The best pieces include three paintings by El Greco.
effective, powerful This is an effective piece of writing.
atmospheric, dramatic | interesting | favourite | important | ambitious | original an original piece written specifically for the producer
short a short piece by Willie Simmonds on television satire
finished | occasional an occasional piece on the lives of ordinary people
centre (also centrepiece) | companion a companion piece to the portrait of Gauguin's empty chair
modern, period, traditional | choral, orchestral, piano | museum
VERB + PIECE compose, produce, write He hasn't produced a single piece of writing this year.
commission | perform, play, sing | read, hear | publish | display, exhibit, show
PIECE + VERB be called sth, be entitled sth
PREP. ~ by They are exhibiting two important pieces by Calder.
~ for a piece for symphony orchestra, choir and four soloists
~ from She read a piece from ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
~ of a piece of jewellery
PHRASES a piece of music/sculpture/work/writing
 ⇒ Note at ART

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

piece
noun
BAD: The pencils were free and so I took two pieces.
GOOD: The pencils were free and so I took two.

Usage Note:
Piece is NOT used with countable nouns. Compare: 'a piece of cheese', 'a piece of furniture', 'a piece of luck'.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

article a piece of writing in a newspaper or magazine about a particular subject:
Greg began his career writing articles for the college magazine.
an interesting newspaper article
story an article in a newspaper about a recent event, especially one that a lot of people find interesting or exciting:
a front-page story
I read a newspaper story about the crash.
The local paper ran a story (=published a story) about the festival.
piece a short article in a newspaper or magazine:
I’ve written a couple of pieces for the New York Times magazine.
The piece was first published in the Observer.
feature a special article about a particular subject, often with photographs and continuing for several pages:
They had a special feature on Croatia.
The paper did a big feature on growing your own food.
review an article in a newspaper or magazine about a book, play, product, hotel etc, giving someone’s opinion of it:
The play had rave reviews (=people liked it a lot - an informal use).
Did you see the review of the new Coldplay album?
column an article by a particular writer that appears regularly in a newspaper or magazine:
He has a weekly column in the TImes.
She writes a newspaper column on gardening.
editorial a piece of writing in a newspaper that gives the personal opinion of the editor about something that is in the news:
Several years ago the New York Times published an editorial stating that the appropriate minimum wage is $0.00.
cutting British English an article that has been cut from a newspaper or magazine:
His mother has kept all his old press cuttings.
examine to look at something carefully and thoroughly because you want to find out more about it:
Experts who examined the painting believe it is genuine.
Her new book examines the causes of social discontent.
A team of divers was sent down to examine the wreckage.
The police will examine the weapon for fingerprints.
have a look at/take a look at especially spoken to quickly examine something to find out what is wrong with it or to find out more about it. Have a look at is less formal than examine, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English:
I’ll have a look at your car if you like.
inspect to examine something carefully to make sure that it is correct, safe, or working properly, especially when it is your job to do this:
The building is regularly inspected by a fire-safety officer.
Some insurance people have already been here to inspect the damage caused by the storm.
Russian and American teams will have the right to inspect each other’s missile sites.
analyze (also analyse British English) to examine something carefully, especially detailed information about something, so that you can understand it:
Researchers analyzed the results of the survey.
We’re still analysing all the data.
One of the problems in analyzing the situation is that we do not have all the information yet.
study to spend a lot of time examining something very carefully, for example a problem or situation:
I won’t comment till I’ve had time to study the proposals.
A team of scientists has been studying the effects of global warming on Antarctica.
scrutinize (also scrutinise British English) to examine something very carefully to find out if there is anything wrong with it:
Congress is currently scrutinizing the deal.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

music the sounds made by musical instruments or people singing:
The music was really loud.
tune the main series of musical notes in a piece of music:
a folk song with a pretty tune
melody the main series of notes in a piece of music that has many notes being played at the same time, especially in classical music:
The soprano sang the melody.
harmony the chords or notes in a piece of music that support the melody:
the rich harmonies in the symphony
piece (also piece of music) an arrangement of musical notes – use this about music without words:
It’s a difficult piece to play.
composition formal a piece of music that someone has written:
This is one of his own compositions.
work a piece of music, especially classical music:
one of Mozart’s best-known works
track one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD:
the album’s title track
number a piece of popular music that forms part of a concert or show:
the show’s first number

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

part something that together with other things forms a whole:
It looks like part of a car engine.
The best part of the movie was the end.
The hardest part is getting started.
bit especially British English informal a small part of something:
Some bits of the book are really funny.
I didn’t read the bottom bit.
piece one of several different parts that you join together to make something:
One of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle was missing.
The furniture comes in several pieces.
component a part of a machine or process:
The company supplies engine components for trucks.
Education is a major component in a child' s growth and development.
section a part of something that is clearly different and separate from other parts:
The test is divided into two sections.
the reference section of the library
the string section of the orchestra
chapter one of the numbered parts that a book is divided into:
The opening chapter of the book sets the scene.
scene one of the parts that a film or play is divided into:
Some scenes had to be cut because they were too violent.
act 1, scene 2 of the play
episode a part of a story on the television or the radio, which is told in separate parts:
I missed last week’s episode.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:
Could I have another piece of cake?
a piece of broken glass
Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:
The notes were written on bits of paper.
He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:
two lumps of sugar
a lump of coal
a lump of clay
scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:
I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.
The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:
a strip of cloth
The leather had been cut into strips.
sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:
a blank sheet of paper
a sheet of aluminium
slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:
a slice of pizza
Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:
The fruit was cut into large chunks.
a chunk of bread
hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:
a big hunk of cheese
hunks of concrete
block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks
a block of cheese
a block of ice
slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs.
a slab of beef
cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar
ice cubes
wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a triangle – used especially about food and metal:
a wedge of cheese
bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:
a chocolate bar
a bar of soap
gold bars worth more than £26 million
rasher British English a slice of bacon:
I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.
cut to divide something into two or more pieces, especially using a knife or scissors:
Do you want me to cut the cake?
He cut off the lower branches.
snip to quickly cut something, especially using scissors:
I snipped the label off.
The hairdresser snipped away at her hair.
slit to make a long narrow cut through something, especially using a knife:
He slit the envelope open with a penknife.
She slit through the plastic covering.
slash to cut something quickly and violently with a knife, making a long thin cut:
Someone had slashed the tyres on his car.
He tried to slash his wrists.
saw to cut wood, using a saw (=a tool with a row of sharp points):
Saw the wood to the correct length.
chop to cut wood, vegetables, or meat into pieces:
Bill was outside chopping up firewood with an axe.
They chopped down the old tree.
finely chopped onion
dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
First dice the apple into cubes.
grate to cut cheese or a hard vegetable by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the vegetables.
peel to cut the outside part off something such as a potato or apple:
I peeled the potatoes and put them in a saucepan.
carve to cut thin pieces from a large piece of meat:
Uncle Ray carved the turkey.
mow to cut the grass in a garden, park etc:
A gardener was mowing the lawn.
trim (also clip) to cut a small amount off something, especially to make it look neater:
He was trimming his beard.
Trim the excess fat off the meat.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:
Could I have another piece of cake?
a piece of broken glass
Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:
The notes were written on bits of paper.
He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:
two lumps of sugar
a lump of coal
a lump of clay
scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:
I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.
The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:
a strip of cloth
The leather had been cut into strips.
sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:
a blank sheet of paper
a sheet of aluminium
slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:
a slice of pizza
Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:
The fruit was cut into large chunks.
a chunk of bread
hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:
a big hunk of cheese
hunks of concrete
block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks
a block of cheese
a block of ice
slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs.
a slab of beef
cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar
ice cubes
wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a triangle – used especially about food and metal:
a wedge of cheese
bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:
a chocolate bar
a bar of soap
gold bars worth more than £26 million
rasher British English a slice of bacon:
I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.
fragment a small piece that has broken off something, especially something hard:
The window shattered, covering them with fragments of glass.
They found fragments of bone.
crumb a very small piece of bread, cake etc:
There were just a few crumbs left on the plate.
speck a piece of something such as dirt or dust which is so small you almost cannot see it:
She brushed the specks of dust from the table.
drop a very small amount of a liquid:
There were drops of blood on the floor.
I felt a drop of rain.
slab of rock/stone/meat

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

piece
pi:s
See: by the piece , conversation piece , give a piece of one's mind , go to pieces , of a piece , piece of cake , say one's piece or speak one's piece , to pieces

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲