Piece (?), v. i. To unite by a coalescence of parts; to fit together; to join. "It pieced better." Bacon.
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.
2. To unite; to join; to combine. Fuller.
His adversaries . . . pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.
Fuller.
Piece (?), n. [OE.
pece, F. pièce,
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.
Bring it out piece by piece.
Ezek. xxiv. 6. 2. A
definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper.
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.
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.
Thy mother was a
piece of virtue.
Shak.
His own spirit is as
unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.
Coleridge.
5. (Chess) One of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn.
6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] Spenser.
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.
Hear it pronounced