See Also: piece 1, noun(dictionary)
Piece(tourism)
piece(2)(dictionary)
piece(1)(dictionary)
set piece(dictionary)
one-piece(dictionary)
two-piece(dictionary)
Piece(finance)
Piece(money)
set piece(dictionary)

piece 1, noun (oh)




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1 ?amount?
2 ?part?
3 ?single item?
4 ?small amount?
5 ?land?
6 fall to pieces
7 go to pieces
8 smash/rip/tear something to pieces
9 pull/rip/tear somebody/something to pieces
10 ?art/music etc?
11 ?news item?
12 in one piece
13 give somebody a piece of your mind
14 be a piece of cake
15 be a piece of piss
16 a piece of the action
17 be (all) of a piece
18 ?money?
19 ?games?
20 ?gun?
21 be a piece of shit/crap
22 piece of ass
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[Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French; Origin: Vulgar Latin pettia]
?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 sth into pieces
::She cut the cake into four equal pieces.
::Chop the potato into bite-sized pieces.
?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) .
?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 asofa)
?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.
?LAND?
an area of land
piece of
::a piece of waste ground
::a dispute about a piece of land
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.
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.
smash/rip/tear sth 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.
pull/rip/tear sb/sth to pieces
to criticize someone or their ideas very severely
::Donna could tear your work to pieces, and frequently did.
?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.
?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.
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 .
give sb 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.
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.
be a piece of piss
BrE spoken not polite to be very easy to do
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 ?
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.
?MONEY?
a) a coin of a particular value
ten pence/fifty-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.
?GAMES?
a small object used in a game such as chess
?GUN?
AmE informal a small gun
be a piece of shit/crap
spoken not polite used to show that you do not respect someone or something they say
piece of ass
AmE informal not polite an offensive expression for a woman. Do not use this expression.
-see also how long is a piece of string? at long 1 (9)