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Piece vs Case - What's the difference?

piece | case | Synonyms |

In obsolete terms the difference between piece and case

is that piece is a castle; a fortified building while case is to propose hypothetical cases.

In us terms the difference between piece and case

is that piece is a pacifier while case is a unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.

As nouns the difference between piece and case

is that piece is a part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts while case is an actual event, situation, or fact.

As verbs the difference between piece and case

is that piece is to assemble (something real or figurative) while case is to propose hypothetical cases.

As an adjective case is

the last remaining card of a particular rank.

piece

English

Alternative forms

* peece (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
  • A single item belonging to a class of similar items: as, for example, a piece of machinery, a piece of software.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[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, […].}}
  • (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.
  • * 1959 , (Hans Kmoch), Pawn Power in Chess , I:
    • Pawns, unlike pieces , move only in one direction: forward.
  • A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.
    • a sixpenny piece
  • An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
  • An artillery gun.
  • (US, Canada, colloquial) (short for hairpiece); a toupee or wig, usually when worn by a man.
  • A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.
  • * 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 46:
    • 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.
  • (US, colloquial) A gun.
  • (US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail
  • (US, colloquial, mildly, vulgar) (short for "piece of crap") a shoddy or worthless object, usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances.
  • (US, slang) A cannabis pipe.
  • (baseball) 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 got, and never used in the plural.
  • (dated, sometimes, derogatory) An individual; a person.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
    • If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thy mother was a piece of virtue.
  • * Coleridge
    • His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.
  • (obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.
    • (Spenser)
  • (US) A pacifier.

    • Synonyms

    * See also * See also

    Usage notes

    When used as a baseball term, the term is idiomatic in that the baseball is almost never broken into pieces. It is rare in modern baseball for the cover of a baseball to even partially tear loose. In professional baseball, several new, not previously played baseballs are used in each game. It could be argued that the phrase was never meant (not even metaphorically) to refer to breaking the ball into pieces, and that "get a piece of the ball" means the bat contacts only a small area of the ball - in other words, that the ball is hit off-center. In that case "get" would mean "succeed in hitting", not "obtain".

    Derived terms

    * bits and pieces * piecemeal * piecen * piece of cake * piece of eight * piece of the action

    See also

    *

    See also

    * chunk * bit

    Verb

    (piec)
  • (transitive, usually, with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).
    • These clues allowed us to piece together the solution to the mystery.
  • * Fuller
    • His adversaries pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.
  • To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out .
    • to piece a garment
    (Shakespeare)
  • (slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.
  • * 2009 , Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground (page 40)
    • It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece ; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.
  • * 2009 , Scape Martinez, GRAFF: The Art & Technique of Graffiti (page 124)
    • It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing .

    Derived terms

    * piece together * repiece * unpiece 1000 English basic words ----

    case

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) cas, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An actual event, situation, or fact.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • A given condition or state.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.10:
    • Ne wist he how to turne, nor to what place: / Was never wretched man in such a wofull cace .
  • A piece of work, specifically defined within a profession.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case . Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny
    • , chapter=4, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff. These properties were known to have belonged to a toddy drawer. He had disappeared.}}
  • (label) An instance or event as a topic of study.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April, author=John T. Jost
    • , volume=100, issue=2, page=162, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases , the fossil record.}}
  • (label) A legal proceeding, lawsuit.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
    • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=“Two or three months more went by?; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case , were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […]”}}
  • (label) A specific inflection of a word depending on its function in the sentence.
  • *
    • Now, the Subject of either an indicative or a subjunctive Clause is always assigned Nominative'' case''', as we see from:
    (16) (a)   I know [that ''they''/*''them''/*''their'' leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
    (16) (b)   I demand [that ''they''/*''them''/*''their'' leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
    By contrast, the Subject of an infinitive Clause is assigned ''Objective'' '''case''', as we see from:
    (17)   I want [''them''/*''they''/*''their'' to leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
    And the Subject of a ''gerund'' Clause is assigned either ''Objective'' or ''Genitive'' '''case     : cf.
    (18)   I don't like the idea of [''them''/''their''/*''they     leaving for Hawaii tomorrow]
  • Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language.
  • (label) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms.
  • A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch.
  • * 2004 , Rick Miller, C++ for Artists
    • Place a break statement at the end of every case to prevent case fall-through.
  • * 2011 , Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus (page 275)
    • Execution does not automatically stop at the next case .
    Synonyms
    * *
    Derived terms
    * be the case * case study * court case * hard case * in case * just in case * Case
    Hyponyms
    * See also

    Verb

    (cas)
  • (obsolete) To propose hypothetical cases.
  • * L'Estrange
    • Casing upon the matter.

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English cas, from .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
  • A box, sheath, or covering generally.
    • a case''' for spectacles; the '''case of a watch
  • A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
  • An enclosing frame or casing.
    • a door case'''; a window '''case
  • A suitcase.
  • A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
  • The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
  • (printing, historical) A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces).
  • (typography, by extension) The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter.
  • (poker slang) Four of a kind.
  • (US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
  • (mining) A small fissure which admits water into the workings.
    • (Knight)
    Derived terms
    * * briefcase * camel case * (noun) * case harden * letter case * lower case * packing case * sentence case * title case * upper case
    References
    * Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank.
    • He drew the case eight!
    References
    * Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

    Verb

    (cas)
  • To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
  • To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose.
  • * Prescott
    • The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle.
  • (informal) To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
  • * 1977 , (Michael Innes), The Gay Phoenix , ISBN 9780396074427, p. 116:
    • You are in the grounds of Brockholes Abbey, a house into which a great deal of valuable property has just been moved. And your job is to case the joint for a break in.
  • * 2014 , (Amy Goodman), From COINTELPRO to Snowden, the FBI Burglars Speak Out After 43 Years of Silence (Part 2) , Democracy Now!, January 8, 2014, 0:49 to 0:57:
    • Bonnie worked as a daycare director. She helped case the FBI office by posing as a college student interested in becoming an FBI agent.

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words English terms with multiple etymologies ----