piece

1 noun (C)

1 SEPARATE PART a part of something that has been separated, broken, or cut from the rest of it: She cut the cake into pieces.

(+ of): How many pieces of toast would you like? | pieces of broken glass | in pieces (=broken into many pieces): The vase had slipped and lay in pieces on the floor.

2 OBJECT a single thing of a particular type, often one that is part of a set of things: Each piece of clothing had her name written in it. | Can I have another piece of paper? | a beautifully made piece of furniture | 24-piece/60-piece etc (=with 24, 60 etc pieces in the set): an 80-piece orchestra

3 CONNECTED PART one of several different parts that must be joined together to make something: Some of the jigsaw pieces are missing. | in pieces (=separated into pieces): The shelves are sold in pieces that you have to assemble. | take sth to pieces (=separate it into pieces): We'll have to take the whole engine to pieces to fix it. | come to pieces (=be designed to be separated into pieces): The table comes to pieces so it's easy to deliver.

4 piece of advice/information/gossip etc some advice, information etc: Let me give you a piece of advice - sell the car. | a juicy piece of gossip

5 piece of luck/stupidity/wilfulness etc something lucky, stupid etc: Finding that store sure was a piece of luck.

6 LAND an area of land: The factory had been built on a piece of waste ground.

7 fall to pieces to become very old and damaged: All my clothes are falling to pieces.

8 go to pieces to be so upset or nervous that you cannot think or behave normally: We're looking for someone who won't go to pieces in a crisis.

9 smash/rip/tear sth to pieces to damage something very severely: The city had been shot to pieces in the air strike. | In a rage, I tore the letter to pieces.

10 pull/rip/tear sb to pieces to criticize someone or their ideas very severely: After she had finished speaking, Hayes tore her to pieces.

11 (all) in one piece not damaged or injured: Luckily the parcel arrived all in one piece. | The car was a wreck, but we got out in one piece.

12 give sb a piece of your mind informal to tell someone that you are very angry with them

13 be a piece of cake informal to be very easy to do: Learning to drive was a piece of cake for me.

14 a piece of the action informal a share of the profits from a business activity, especially an illegal one

15 be (all) of a piece

a) to be the same as something else: The testimony was all of a piece with Mandeville's version of events.

b) to be the same in all parts: The style of the book is all of a piece, both in illustrations and text.

16 MONEY

a) a coin of a particular value: ten pence/fifty-cent etc piece: Does anyone have change for a 50 pence piece?

b) old use a coin: 30 pieces of silver

17 ART/MUSIC ETC something that has been produced by an artist, musician, or writer: The 1812 Overture is one of Tchaikovsky's finest pieces.

18 IN A NEWSPAPER a short written article (2) in a newspaper or magazine: Did you see that piece in the Observer about censorship?

19 IN GAMES a small object or figure used in playing games such as chess

20 GUN AmE slang a small gun

21 be a piece of shit/crap spoken a rude way of saying that something is of very low quality: Why did you buy that car? It's a piece of crap!

22 piece of ass AmE an offensive expression meaning a woman, used by men when they are talking about sex

23 a piece AmE old-fashioned a short distance away: The store is down the road a piece.

—see also: museum piece, party piece, set piece, a nasty piece of work nasty 6, pick up the pieces pick 1, say your piece say 1 (2), the villain of the piece villain (3) 2 verb piece sth together phrasal verb (T)

1 to use all the facts or information you have about a situation in order to understand it: Police are still trying to piece together his movements before the murder.

2 to put all the separate parts of an object into the correct order or position: He was slowly piecing together torn fragments of a letter.