Meaning & use
piece
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Meanings
nouncountable
A part that has been cut, broken or separated from something larger.
Grammar: Often followed by of: a piece of cake.
Patterns
- a piece of something
- in pieces
She cut the cake into eight pieces.
The vase fell and broke into pieces.
Can I have a piece of bread?
nouncountable
A single item or example of something, used to count things that have no plural form.
Grammar: Used with uncountable nouns: a piece of advice, a piece of furniture.
Patterns
- a piece of advice
- a piece of news
- a piece of furniture
He gave me a useful piece of advice.
That is a beautiful piece of furniture.
I have an interesting piece of news.
nouncountable
A work of writing, music or art, or an article in a newspaper or magazine.
Grammar: Often described with an adjective: a short piece, a piano piece.
Patterns
- a piece about something
- a piece by someone
She wrote a long piece about the city's history.
The orchestra played a piece by Debussy.
The gallery bought several pieces from the young sculptor.
nouncountable
A small object used in a board game, or a coin of a particular kind.
Grammar: Chess pieces, game pieces and fifty-cent pieces all use this meaning.
Patterns
- a chess piece
- a game piece
The knight is her favorite chess piece.
One of the game pieces had fallen under the sofa.
He found a silver piece in his pocket.
verbphrasal verb
To join parts together to make a whole, usually followed by together.
Grammar: Almost always piece together: piece together a puzzle or a story.
Patterns
- piece something together
Detectives pieced together what happened from the witness statements.
She pieced together the torn photograph.
Historians piece together the past from letters and records.
Word forms
| plural | pieces |
|---|---|
| third person singular | pieces |
| past tense | pieced |
| past participle | pieced |
| -ing form | piecing |
Common combinations
- a piece of cake
- The test was a piece of cake.
- piece of advice
- Let me give you a piece of advice.
- in one piece
- The package arrived in one piece.
- go to pieces
- She went to pieces when she heard the news.
- piece together
- They pieced together the story from old letters.
- say your piece
- He stood up and said his piece.
Synonyms and how they differ
- part
- Part describes a section of a whole that may still be attached, while piece usually suggests something separated.
- fragment
- Fragment is a small broken piece, usually of something that smashed.
- portion
- Portion often means a share of food or something divided between people.
- item
- Item refers to one thing among a list, with less stress on being a part of something larger.
Opposites
Word family
- piecemeal adjective
- done gradually, a bit at a time
- piecework noun
- work paid for by the amount done
- piecemeal adverb
- bit by bit, without a clear overall plan
- masterpiece noun
- an outstanding work of art
Commonly confused: piece or peace?
piece vs peace
Peace means calm or the absence of war; piece is a part of something, and they sound identical.
Practice
Let me give you a ____ of advice: always read the contract first.
Choose one answer.
Advice is uncountable, so a piece of advice is the usual way to count it. Peace is a homophone with a different meaning, and part and pair do not collocate with advice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “piece”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.