Piece

Piece, pēs, n. a part of anything: a single article: a definite quantity, as of cloth or paper: an amount of work to be done at one time: a separate performance: a literary or artistic composition: a gun: a coin: a man in chess or draughts: a person, generally a woman, in contempt.—v.t. to enlarge by adding a piece: to patch.—v.i. to unite by a joining of parts: to join.—n.pl. Piece′-goods, cotton, linen, woollen, or silk fabrics sold retail in varying lengths.—adj. Piece′less, not made of pieces: entire.—adv. Piece′meal, in pieces or fragments: by pieces: little by little: bit by bit: gradually.—adj. made of pieces: single: separate.—ns. Piec′ener, a piecer; Piec′ening, or Piec′ing, the act of mending, esp. the joining of the ends of yarn, thread, &c. so as to repair breaks; Piec′er, a boy or girl employed in a spinning-factory to join broken threads; Piece′work, work done by the piece or quantity rather than by time.—Pièce de résistance, principal piece: chief event or performance: chief dish at a dinner; Piece of eight, the Spanish peso duro ('hard dollar'), bearing the numeral 8, of the value of 8 reals (prob. the sign $ is derived from this); Piece out, to put together bit by bit; Piece up, to patch up.—Give a piece of one's mind, to give a rating frankly to any one's face; Of a piece, as if of the same piece, the same in nature, &c. [O. Fr. piece—Low L. petium, a piece of land—prob. L. pes, pedis, a foot.]