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 clayscrap 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 aluminiumslice 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 breadhunk 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 concreteblock a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks a block of cheese a block of iceslab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs. a slab of beefcube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar ice cubeswedge 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 cheesebar 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 millionrasher 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 oniondice 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 clayscrap 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 aluminiumslice 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 breadhunk 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 concreteblock a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks a block of cheese a block of iceslab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs. a slab of beefcube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar ice cubeswedge 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 cheesebar 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 millionrasher 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 ▲