Found 2 items, similar to Piece of eight.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: piece of eight piece of eight n : an old silver Spanish coin; worth 8 reales
English → English (gcide) Definition: Piece of eight Piece \Piece\, n. [OE. pece, F. pi[`e]ce, LL. pecia, petia, petium, probably of Celtic origin; cf. W. peth a thing, a part, portion, a little, Armor. pez, Gael. & Ir. cuid part, share. Cf. Petty.] 1. A fragment or part of anything separated from the whole, in any manner, as by cutting, splitting, breaking, or tearing; a part; a portion; as, a piece of sugar; to break in pieces. [1913 Webster] Bring it out piece by piece. --Ezek. xxiv. 6. [1913 Webster] 2. A definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper. [1913 Webster] 3. Any one thing conceived of as apart from other things of the same kind; an individual article; a distinct single effort of a series; a definite performance; especially: (a) A literary or artistic composition; as, a piece of poetry, music, or statuary. (b) A musket, gun, or cannon; as, a battery of six pieces; a following piece. (c) A coin; as, a sixpenny piece; -- formerly applied specifically to an English gold coin worth 22 shillings. (d) A fact; an item; as, a piece of news; a piece of knowledge. [1913 Webster] 4. An individual; -- applied to a person as being of a certain nature or quality; often, but not always, used slightingly or in contempt. “If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.” --Sir P. Sidney. [1913 Webster] Thy mother was a piece of virtue. --Shak. [1913 Webster] His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] 5. (Chess) One of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn. [1913 Webster] 6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster] Of a piece, of the same sort, as if taken from the same whole; like; -- sometimes followed by with. --Dryden. Piece of eight, the Spanish piaster, formerly divided into eight reals. To give a piece of one's mind to, to speak plainly, bluntly, or severely to (another). --Thackeray. Piece broker, one who buys shreds and remnants of cloth to sell again. Piece goods, goods usually sold by pieces or fixed portions, as shirtings, calicoes, sheetings, and the like. [1913 Webster]