piece something out

piece something out
piece something out†
1. Lit. to add patches or pieces to something to make it complete. •

There is not quite enough cloth to make a shirt, but I think I can piece it out with some scraps of a complementary color for the collar.

•

We managed to piece out the material that we needed.

2. Fig. to add missing parts to a story, explanation, or narrative to make it make sense. •

Before she passed out, she muttered a few things and we were able to piece the whole story out from that.

•

We pieced out the story from the few bits we heard from her.


Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • piece something out — archaic extend something. → piece …   English new terms dictionary

  • put something out of gear — put/throw/something out of gear phrase to stop something from working as it should Can you sort this thing out? It’s putting my system right out of gear. Thesaurus: to make a machine or piece of machinery stop workinghyponym Main entry: gear …   Useful english dictionary

  • throw something out of gear — put/throw/something out of gear phrase to stop something from working as it should Can you sort this thing out? It’s putting my system right out of gear. Thesaurus: to make a machine or piece of machinery stop workinghyponym Main entry: gear …   Useful english dictionary

  • hang something out — ˌhang sthˈout derived (especially BrE) to attach things that you have washed to a piece of thin rope or wire, etc. outside so that they can dry; to attach sth such as a flag outside a window or in the street • Have you hung the washing out? •… …   Useful english dictionary

  • nut something out — ˌnut sth ˈout derived (AustralE, NZE, informal) to calculate sth or find the answer to sth • I m going to have to nut it out on a piece of paper. Main entry: ↑nutderived …   Useful english dictionary

  • write something out — ˌwrite sthˈout derived to write sth on paper, including all the details, especially a piece of work or an account of sth see also ↑write (5) Main entry: ↑writederived …   Useful english dictionary

  • pad something out — lengthen a speech or piece of writing with unnecessary material. → pad …   English new terms dictionary

  • pound something out — produce a document or piece of music with heavy strokes on a keyboard or instrument. → pound …   English new terms dictionary

  • piece — noun 1》 a portion of an object or of material produced by cutting, tearing, or breaking the whole. 2》 an item used in constructing something or forming part of a set; a component.     ↘an instance or example: a crucial piece of evidence. 3》 a… …   English new terms dictionary

  • fish something out (of something) — ˌfish sth/sbˈout (of sth) derived to take or pull sth/sb out of a place • She fished a piece of paper out of the pile on her desk. • They fished a dead body out of the river. Main entry: ↑fishderived …   Useful english dictionary

  • out — out1 W1S1 [aut] adv ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(from inside )¦ 2¦(outside)¦ 3¦(not at home)¦ 4¦(distant place)¦ 5¦(given to many people)¦ 6¦(get rid of something)¦ 7¦(not burning/shining)¦ 8¦(sun/moon etc)¦ 9¦(flowers)¦ 10¦(complet …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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