piece

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
piece
    n 1: a separate part of a whole; "an important piece of the
         evidence"
    2: an item that is an instance of some type; "he designed a new
       piece of equipment"; "she bought a lovely piece of china";
    3: a portion of a natural object; "they analyzed the river into
       three parts"; "he needed a piece of granite" [syn: {part},
       {piece}]
    4: a musical work that has been created; "the composition is
       written in four movements" [syn: {musical composition},
       {opus}, {composition}, {piece}, {piece of music}]
    5: an instance of some kind; "it was a nice piece of work"; "he
       had a bit of good luck" [syn: {piece}, {bit}]
    6: an artistic or literary composition; "he wrote an interesting
       piece on Iran"; "the children acted out a comic piece to
       amuse the guests"
    7: a portable gun; "he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster"
       [syn: {firearm}, {piece}, {small-arm}]
    8: a serving that has been cut from a larger portion; "a piece
       of pie"; "a slice of bread" [syn: {piece}, {slice}]
    9: a distance; "it is down the road a piece"
    10: a work of art of some artistic value; "this store sells only
        objets d'art"; "it is not known who created this piece"
        [syn: {objet d'art}, {art object}, {piece}]
    11: 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" [syn: {while}, {piece}, {spell},
        {patch}]
    12: a share of something; "a slice of the company's revenue"
        [syn: {slice}, {piece}]
    13: 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" [syn: {man}, {piece}]
    v 1: to join or unite the pieces of; "patch the skirt" [syn:
         {patch}, {piece}]
    2: create by putting components or members together; "She pieced
       a quilt"; "He tacked together some verses"; "They set up a
       committee" [syn: {assemble}, {piece}, {put together}, {set
       up}, {tack}, {tack together}] [ant: {break apart}, {break
       up}, {disassemble}, {dismantle}, {take apart}]
    3: join during spinning; "piece the broken pieces of thread,
       slivers, and rovings"
    4: eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He pieced at the
       sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just
       nibbles" [syn: {nibble}, {pick}, {piece}]
    5: repair by adding pieces; "She pieced the china cup" [syn:
       {piece}, {patch}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Piece \Piece\, n. [OE. pece, F. pi[`e]ce, 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bring it out piece by piece.          --Ezek. xxiv.
                                                  6.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a
      piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thy mother was a piece of virtue.     --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is
            in all the world.                     --Coleridge.
      [1913 Webster]
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Chess) One of the superior men, distinguished from a
      pawn.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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). --Thackeray.

   {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.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To unite; to join; to combine. --Fuller.
      [1913 Webster]

            His adversaries . . . pieced themselves together in
            a joint opposition against him.       --Fuller.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Piece \Piece\, v. i.
   To unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join.
   "It pieced better." --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
551 Moby Thesaurus words for "piece":
      Grand Guignol, Nachtmusik, Passion play, Tom show, absolute music,
      actor, adaptation, aesthetic distance, air, air varie, aleatory,
      aleatory music, alike, allotment, allowance, antagonist, antihero,
      antimasque, arrangement, art object, article, ass, assemble,
      audience success, autograph, automatic, babe, baby, bait, ballet,
      bawling-out, beat, big end, bigger half, bishop, bit, bit part,
      bite, blowgun, blowpipe, bolt, bomb, brainchild, break down,
      breeze, bric-a-brac, broad, broadcast drama, broken, budget,
      budget of news, burlesque show, butt, cast, castle, causerie,
      chamber music, chamber orchestra, character, charade, chessman,
      chick, chiding, chip, chunk, cinch, classic, clearance,
      cliff hanger, clip, clipping, closet drama, coil, coin, colleen,
      collop, comedy drama, commission, compass, compose, composition,
      computer printout, connect, contingent, copy, crack up, creation,
      critical success, crown, crumb, crumble, cue, cut, cutie, cutting,
      dame, damoiselle, damsel, daytime serial, deal, deep space,
      demoiselle, depths of space, descant, design, destiny, destroyed,
      dialogue, discourse, discussion, disintegrate, disquisition,
      dissertation, distance, ditty, divergence, dividend, division,
      document, documentary drama, dole, doll, dollop, double eagle,
      doubloon, draft, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series,
      draughtsman, dressing-down, ducat, duodrama, duologue, eagle,
      edited version, electronic music, end, engrossment, epic theater,
      equal share, essay, etude, examination, exclusive, excursus,
      exercise, experimental theater, exposition, extent, extravaganza,
      failure, fair copy, farness, fat part, fate, feature, feeder,
      fiction, filly, final draft, finished version, firearm,
      first approach, first draft, five-dollar gold piece, fix,
      flamethrower, flimsy, flop, fraction, fragment, frail, gal, gasser,
      gat, gather, girl, girlie, giveaway, go to pieces, gob, gobbet,
      gold piece, grotesque, guinea, gun, half, half crown, half eagle,
      halver, handgun, happening, hard money, harmonious, harmonization,
      heater, heavy, heifer, hell, helping, hero, heroine, hit, hit show,
      holding, holograph, homily, hot number, hoyden, hunk, identical,
      improvisational drama, in agreement, in harmony, in keeping,
      in pieces, incidental music, infinity, ingenue, instrumental music,
      interest, introductory study, invention, jeune fille, jill, jingle,
      junior miss, king, kitsch, knight, lass, lassie, lead, lead role,
      lead-pipe cinch, leading lady, leading man, leading woman, lecture,
      leeway, legitimate drama, length, letter, light-years, lines,
      literae scriptae, literary artefact, literary production,
      literature, little missy, lot, lucubration, lump, mademoiselle,
      maid, maiden, man, manuscript, margin, masque, master, masterpiece,
      masterwork, matter, measure, meat, meed, melodrama, melody, member,
      memoir, mend, mess, mileage, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play,
      miss, missy, mobile, modicum, moidore, moiety, monodrama,
      monograph, monologue, morality, morality play, morceau, morsel,
      museum piece, music, music drama, musical revue, musket, mystery,
      mystery play, napoleon, news item, nocturne, nonfiction, note,
      nude, nymphet, old master, opera, opus, orchestration, original,
      outline, pageant, pandect, panel show, pantomime, paper, paragraph,
      parcel, parchment, paring, parsecs, part, particle, pasticcio,
      pastiche, pastoral, pastoral drama, pawn, peashooter, penscript,
      percentage, person, personage, perspective, piece of ass,
      piece of cake, piece of meat, piece of money, piece of silver,
      piece of virtu, piece of writing, piece together, pistol, play,
      playlet, poem, portion, pound sovereign, preliminary study,
      printed matter, printout, problem play, production, program music,
      prolegomenon, proportion, protagonist, psychodrama, put together,
      quantity, quantum, queen, quiz show, quota, radio drama, rake-off,
      range, rasher, ration, reach, reading matter, rebuke, recension,
      remnant, remoteness, repeater, report, reprimand, research paper,
      restore, review, revolver, revue, ricercar, rifle, rod, role, roll,
      roll of coins, romp, rook, rouleau, ruined, run, sample,
      sawed-off shotgun, schoolgirl, schoolmaid, schoolmiss, scolding,
      scoop, score, scrap, screed, scrip, script, scrive, scroll,
      second draft, section, segment, sensational play, separation,
      serial, serving, sex goddess, sex object, sex queen, shard, share,
      shatter, shattered, shaving, shiver, shooting iron, short story,
      shotgun, show, shred, side, similar, sitcom, situation comedy,
      six-gun, six-shooter, sketch, skirt, skit, slice, slip, sliver,
      small share, smashed, smithereen, snack, snap, snatch, snip,
      snippet, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, sonata, sonatina, song,
      soubrette, sovereign, space, span, special article, specie,
      specimen, spectacle, splinter, spot news, stabile, stage play,
      stage show, stake, statue, still life, stitch, stock, story,
      straight drama, straight part, stretch, stride, string orchestra,
      string quartet, strip, stud, study, stump, subdeb, subdebutante,
      subteen, subteener, supporting character, supporting role, survey,
      suspense drama, swatch, tableau, tableau vivant, talk show, taste,
      tatter, teenybopper, teleplay, television drama, television play,
      ten-dollar gold piece, term paper, the same, the written word,
      theater of cruelty, theme, theme and variations, thesis,
      title role, token, tomato, tomboy, tongue-lashing, total theater,
      tract, tractate, transcript, transcription, treatise, treatment,
      trio, tune, twenty-dollar gold piece, typescript, uniform, unite,
      variation, variety show, vaudeville, vaudeville show, vehicle,
      version, villain, virgin, virtu, walk-on, walking part, way, ways,
      wedge, wench, what for, word-of-mouth success, work, work of art,
      writing, young creature, young thing

    

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