Category:Piece

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)

Defn: 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 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 Piece, v. i.

Defn: to unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join. "it pieced better." Bacon.