of a piece

of a piece


  7. a literary or journalistic composition, usually short, in prose or verse.
  9. a musical composition.
  12. Chess, Checkers.
  13. a token, charm, or amulet: a good-luck piece.
  16. one of the parts into which a thing is destructively divided or broken; a part, fragment, or shred: to tear a letter into pieces.
  17. Military.
    1. a soldier’s rifle, pistol, etc.
    2. a cannon or other unit of ordnance: field piece.
  18. a coin: a five-cent piece.
  19. Midland and Southern U.S. a distance: I’m going down the road a piece.
  20. Chiefly North Midland U.S. a snack.
  21. Also called piece of ass Slang: Vulgar.
    1. Usually Disparaging and Offensive.a person, usually a woman, considered as a sexual partner: He finally got himself a piece of ass.
    2. sexual intercourse: He’s always looking for piece of ass.

verb (used with object), pieced, piec·ing.


verb (used without object), pieced, piec·ing.

  1. Chiefly North Midland U.S. to eat small portions of food between meals; snack.


  1. give someone a piece of one’s mind. mind(def 38).
  2. go to pieces,
    1. to break into fragments.
  3. of a piece, of the same kind; harmonious; consistent.Also of one piece.
  4. piece of the action. action(def 23).
  5. piece of work, an extraordinary person, especially one who has extremely negative qualities: She’s a nasty piece of work!
  6. speak one’s piece, to express one’s opinion; reveal one’s thoughts upon a subject: I decided to speak my piece whether they liked it or not.


  1. an amount or portion forming a separate mass or structure; bita piece of wood
  2. a small part, item, or amount forming part of a whole, esp when broken off or separateda piece of bread
  3. a length by which a commodity is sold, esp cloth, wallpaper, etc
  4. an instance or occurrencea piece of luck
  5. slang a girl or woman regarded as an object of sexual attractiona nice piece
  6. an example or specimen of a style or type, such as an article of furniturea beautiful piece of Dresden china
  7. informal an opinion or point of viewto state one’s piece
  8. a literary, musical, or artistic composition
  9. a coin having a value as specifiedfifty-pence piece
  10. a small object, often individually shaped and designed, used in playing certain games, esp board gameschess pieces
    1. a firearm or cannon
    2. (in combination)fowling-piece
  11. any chessman other than a pawn
  12. US and Canadian a short time or distancedown the road a piece
  13. Scot and English dialect
    1. a slice of bread or a sandwich
    2. a packed lunch taken to work, school, etc
  14. (usually plural) Australian and NZ fragments of fleece woolSee also oddment (def. 2)
  15. give someone a piece of one’s mind informal to criticize or censure someone frankly or vehemently
  16. go to pieces
  17. nasty piece of work British informal a cruel or mean person
  18. of a piece of the same kind; alike
  19. piece of cake informal something easily obtained or achieved

verb (tr)

  1. (often foll by together) to fit or assemble piece by piece
  2. (often foll by up) to patch or make up (a garment) by adding pieces
  3. textiles to join (broken threads) during spinning

n.c.1200, “fixed amount, measure, portion,” from Old French piece “piece, bit portion; item; coin” (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *pettia, probably from Gaulish *pettsi (cf. Welsh peth “thing,” Breton pez “piece, a little”), perhaps from an Old Celtic base *kwezd-i-, from PIE root *kwezd- “a part, piece” (cf. Russian chast’ “part”). Related: Pieces. Sense of “portable firearm” first recorded 1580s; that of “chessman” is from 1560s. Meaning “person regarded as a sex object” is first recorded 1785 (cf. piece of ass, human beings colloquially called piece of flesh from 1590s; cf. also Latin scortum “bimbo, anyone available for a price,” literally “skin”). Meaning “a portion of a distance” is from 1610s; that of “literary composition” dates from 1530s. Piece of (one’s) mind is from 1570s. Piece of work “remarkable person” echoes Hamlet. Piece as “a coin” is attested in English from 1570s, hence Piece of eight, old name for the Spanish dollar (c.1600) of the value of 8 reals. PIECE. A wench. A damned good or bad piece; a girl who is more or less active and skilful in the amorous congress. Hence the (Cambridge) toast, may we never have a PIECE (peace) that will injure the constitution. [“Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence,” London, 1811] v.“to mend by adding pieces,” late 14c., from piece (n.). Sense of “to join, unite, put together” is from late 15c. Related: Pieced; piecing. Also, all of a piece. Of the same kind, as in This legislation is of a piece with the previous bill, or Her rude behavior was all of a piece. The piece in this idiom alludes to a single mass of material. [Early 1600s] In addition to the idioms beginning with piece

  • piece by piece
  • piece of ass
  • piece of cake
  • piece of change
  • piece of one’s mind
  • piece of the action
  • piece together
  • also see:

  • all in one piece
  • conversation piece
  • go to pieces
  • museum piece
  • of a piece
  • pick apart (to pieces)
  • pick up the pieces
  • puff piece
  • say one’s piece
  • think piece
  • thrill to pieces
  • to pieces
  • villain of the piece
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