in one piece

in one piece — idiom

1. safe and not injured or damaged, especially after a dangerous situation or a dif

1.慣用語B1
釋義

safe and not injured or damaged, especially after a dangerous situation or a difficult journey

例句

After the storm wrecked several houses, the Watanabe home was still in one piece.

after a dangerous event: still unharmed

The fragile vase arrived at the museum in one piece despite being shipped across the ocean.

collocation: arrive + in one piece (objects)

同義詞
  • safe and sound

    slightly more formal; used mainly for people after a journey or search

  • unharmed

    more formal; focuses specifically on lack of physical injury

  • intact

    formal; used mainly for objects or structures, not for people

反義詞
  • in pieces

    broken into fragments; the direct opposite meaning

  • injured

    specific to physical harm to people

用法筆記

Most common after verbs that describe completing a risky situation, such as 'arrive', 'get through', 'survive', 'emerge', or 'land'. Also used with objects to mean undamaged after a mishap.

常見錯誤

❌I arrived in a piece.
✅I arrived in one piece.
💡the expression is always 'in one piece', never 'in a piece'.
❌The glass fell but it was still in pieces.
✅The glass fell but it was still in one piece.
💡'in pieces' means broken into fragments, the opposite meaning.