piece

Etymology

From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion”); doublet of English fit, fytte, fytt (“musical piece, chapter”), Icelandic fit (“web”), German Fitze (“skein”), from Old High German *fitjâ. Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza, Italian pezza, Italian pezzo.

noun

1. A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
   I’d like another piece of pie.
   I've lost a piece of this jigsaw puzzle.
2. A single item belonging to a class of similar items.
   a piece of machinery
   a piece of software
   a useful piece of advice
   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […] 2013-07-20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
3. (chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; by extension, a similar counter etc. in other games.
   Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward. 1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, section I
4. A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.
   a sixpenny piece
5. An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
   She played two beautiful pieces on the piano.
6. An article published in the press.
   Today's paper has an interesting piece on medical research.
   No, I didn't read the piece on China's faceless masses, I was, I was checking out the lingerie ads. 1979, Woody Allen, Manhattan, spoken by Isaac Davis (Woody Allen)
7. (military) An artillery gun.
   […] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them. 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 55
8. (US, colloquial) A gun.
   He's packin' a piece!
   I wanted peace, but now my piece is clearing out the block. 2005, “Bloody War”, in Certified, performed by David Banner
9. (US, Canada, colloquial, short for hairpiece) A toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.
   The announcer is wearing a new piece.
10. (Scotland, Ireland, UK, US, dialectal) A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.
    My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game. 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 46
11. (US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail.
    I got a piece at lunchtime.
12. (US, colloquial, mildly vulgar, short for piece of crap/piece of shit) A shoddy or worthless object (usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances).
    Ugh, my new computer is such a piece. I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow.
13. (US, slang) A cannabis pipe.
14. (baseball, uncountable) Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with get.
    he got a piece of that one; she got a piece of the ball[…]and it's going foul.
15. (dated, sometimes derogatory) An individual; a person.
    His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world. 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aid to Reflection
16. (obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.
17. (US) A pacifier; a dummy.
18. (colloquial) A distance.
    a far piece
    located a fair piece away from their camp
    a fair piece off
19. (rowing) A structured practice row, often used for performance evaluation.
    At practice we rowed four 5,000 meter pieces.
    That last piece was torture.
20. An amount of work to be done at one time; a unit of piece work.
21. (slang) An ounce of a recreational drug.
    In fact, that was back during the era when you could buy a piece of heroin, an ounce of heroin, for $500 and cut it three times for a 3-to-1 cut on it and the dope would still be good. 2017, Matt Meyer, Déqui Kioni-Sadiki, Sekou Odinga, Look for Me in the Whirlwind

verb

1. (transitive, usually with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).
   These clues allowed us to piece together the solution to the mystery.
2. To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out.
   to piece a garment
3. (slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.
   “It didn't rain, so I decided to come piece with you.[…]” We never finished that piece. 1994, William Upski Wimsatt, Bomb the Suburbs, revised second edition, Chicago: The Subway and Elevated Press Company, page 7
   It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces. 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, page 40
   It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing. 2009, Scape Martinez, GRAFF: The Art & Technique of Graffiti, page 124