n. 1 bit, morsel, scrap, chunk, hunk, sliver, lump, portion, particle, fragment, shred, shard or sherd, remnant, quantity All the beggar wanted was a piece of bread A piece of shrapnel is still embedded in my arm. 2 wedge, slice, serving, helping, portion You may not have a piece of pie till you've eaten your vegetables 3 share, portion, fraction, part, division, segment, section, interest, holding, percentage, proportion It turned out that a piece of the company had been sold without shareholders' approval 4 (short) story, article, essay, report, theme, draft; poem; music, opus, (musical) number, composition, arrangement, tune, melody, song, air, jingle, ditty; production, play, drama, sketch, show I read that piece about cholesterol in yesterday's paper He wrote a piece for the flute. Which piece by Strindberg will you put on next? 5 man, token, chessman, chess-piece, chequer, Brit draughtsman Once you have touched a piece you must move it 6 go to pieces. fall apart, disintegrate, crumble, shatter; be shattered, be upset, be disturbed, have a nervous breakdown, go out of or lose control, break down, Colloq crack up Another earthquake and this wall will go to pieces At the news of his son's death, Joe simply went to pieces. 7 in pieces. smashed, destroyed, ruined, shattered, broken, in smithereens, smashed The vase lay in pieces at my feet Though I had won the case, my life was in pieces. 8 of a piece (with). similar, similarly constituted, alike, of the same sort or kind or type, uniform, the same, part and parcel (of the same thing), identical; in harmony, in agreement, harmonious, in keeping This book is of a piece with the others in the same series All his paintings are of a piece. 9 piece of cake. Colloq snap, cinch, US and Canadian lead-pipe cinch, breeze The French exam was a piece of cake 10 piece of (one's) mind. Colloq scolding, rebuke, lecture, reprimand, tongue-lashing, chiding, rap over or on the knuckles, Colloq hell, what for, dressing-down, US bawling-out, chewing-out She gave him a piece of her mind about the amount of time he spent in the pub 11 piece of the action. share, portion, interest, stake, percentage, holding, quota For $1000 you can have a piece of the action 12 speak (one's) piece. have (one's) say, express (one's) opinion, say what is on (one's) mind; vent (one's) spleen, Colloq get a load off (one's) mind or chest All were given a chance to speak their piece
v. 13 piece together. assemble, put together, connect, gather, compose; fix, unite, restore, mend We pieced together what happened from the witnesses' accounts You'll never be able to piece together the bits of that lamp. pièce de résistance n. highlight, (special or main) feature or attraction, spécialité (de la maison), masterpiece, chef-d'oeuvre, Brit speciality, US specialty The pièce de résistance of the meal was a magnificent gateau