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Piece vs Token - What's the difference?

piece | token |

As nouns the difference between piece and token

is that piece is room (in a house, etc) while token is something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol.

As an adjective token is

done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.

As a verb token is

to betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote.

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 ----

    token

    English

    (wikipedia token)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol
  • According to the Bible, the rainbow is a token of God's covenant with Noah.
  • A keepsake, momento, souvenir
  • Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.
  • A piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services
  • Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.
    A book token is the easiest option for a Christmas gift.
  • (obsolete, sometimes, figurative) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Say, by this token , I desire his company.
  • Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion; reason, reasoning, witcraft (see usage)
  • An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power, a miracle
  • An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction; a password
  • A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
  • Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
  • Say, by this token , I desire his company.
  • A tally
  • (philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
  • (computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing. Also called a symbol.
  • * 2004 , Randall Hyde, Write Great Code: Understanding the Machine , page 68
  • For each lexeme, the scanner creates a small data package known as a token and passes this data package on to the parser.
  • (computing) A conceptual object that can be possessed by a computer, process, etc. in order to regulate a turn-taking system such as a token ring network.
  • (grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
  • (medical) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
  • (medical, obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
  • * (rfdate)'' (Beaumont and Fletcher)
  • Like the fearful tokens of the plague, Are mere forerunners of their ends.
  • (printing) Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.
  • (mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
  • (mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
  • (rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.
  • (weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.
  • (Church of Scotland) A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.
  • Synonyms

    * (something serving as an expression of something else) sign, symbol * (atomic piece of data) symbol

    Derived terms

    * by the same token * by that token — by that reason * in token of — on account of; because of, as an indication of * tokenism * tokenization * token ring

    See also

    * (philosophy) particular, universal, type

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.
  • He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.
  • * 1927 , , Money and Monetary Policy in Early Times , page 393
  • If the as had been reduced to a token in 240 BC, it was now a little more token than before.
  • * 2000 , Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women , Page 176
  • There are still many churches where the participation of women is token .
  • * 2008 , Adrian Blomfield, , Has Russia got a new Stalin? , March 31, 2008
  • Just to be on the safe side, the The Kremlin has also banned any of Putin’s serious critics from standing. Three unelectable misfits have been allowed to mount token challenges.
  • a minor attempt for appearance sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement
  • * he was hired as the company's token black
  • * ''the television show was primarily directed toward a negro audience, but it did have a few token whites as performers
  • Derived terms

    * tokenish * tokenistic * tokenless * tokenlike

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
  • * 1962' (quoting '''c. 1398 text), (Hans Kurath) & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., ''(Middle English Dictionary) , Ann Arbor, Mich.: (University of Michigan Press), , page 1242:
  • dorr?&
  • 773;', '''d?r?''' adj. & n.
  • To betroth
  • (philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate
  • * {{quote-journal, 2008, date=August 27, Mikkel Gerken, Is There a Simple Argument for Higher-Order Representation Theories of Awareness Consciousness?, Erkenntnis, url=, doi=10.1007/s10670-008-9116-z, volume=69, issue=2, pages=
  • , passage=In which sense does ‘?p ~(p & ~p)’ cause the tokening of the belief in the subject? }}

    Derived terms

    * To betoken * To foretoken * To toke

    References

    (Webster 1913) * Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia ----