set piece

noun

plural set pieces
1
a
: a composition (as in literature, art, or music) executed in a fixed or ideal form often with studied artistry and brilliant effect
b
: a scene, depiction, speech, or event that is obviously designed to have an imposing effect
2
: a realistic piece of stage scenery standing by itself
3
: a precisely planned and conducted military operation
an offensive set piece that caught the enemy off guard
4
sports : a carefully planned sequence of movements performed by the members of a team (as in soccer)
A set piece can be used on either a direct or indirect type of [free] kick, providing one of the few times during the game that a team can execute something that it may have spent hours practicing.Doug Roberson
set-piece adjective

Examples of set piece in a Sentence

a movie with some lovely set pieces She scored with a set piece.
Recent Examples on the Web The crew built the worm into a 90-foot-long by 24-foot-wide set piece. Zack Sharf, Variety, 27 Mar. 2024 Our crew pushing bounds and creating set pieces, outfits, hairstyles, and music that were often unexpected and always first-rate. Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 Torres’s real mother designed set pieces for his film, including a fantastical playground that appears in flashbacks to Alejandro’s youth. Sonia Rao, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 Villeneuve is adept at staging grand-scale battles, but the movie’s best set piece is the climactic tooth-and-nail face-off between Paul and this grinning gargoyle. Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Feb. 2024 The 2024 Oscar winners list March 10, 2024 After sidestepping out from behind a large set piece, Cena — wearing just an envelope over his bits and a pair of Birkenstock sandals — took center stage. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024 Science fiction is full of characters, set pieces, and scenarios that few other genres could ever get away with. Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024 The Ghanaian director has gone for a high-style reverie, creating set pieces sprung from the imagination of Celie, played as a child by Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and as a woman by Fantasia Barrino, who is reprising her Broadway role. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2023 Vermette explains the sandworm was a 90-foot-long by 24-foot-wide set piece. Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'set piece.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of set piece was in 1834

Dictionary Entries Near set piece

Cite this Entry

“Set piece.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/set%20piece. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.

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