Definition

1. Noun:
   • A remaining piece or part: An oddment is a single item or fragment that remains after the main part has been used, sold, or dealt with.
   • An unusual or miscellaneous item: An oddment can also refer to something unusual, often of minor value, that might be collected or kept.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • She used the oddment of fabric to make a small patch for the quilt.
  • The box was filled with oddments from his travels: shells, coins, and strange keys.
  • After the sale, only a few oddments were left on the shelf.

Advanced Usage

• "An oddment of information": a small, isolated, or miscellaneous piece of information.

  • The historian found an oddment of information in a forgotten diary that changed the theory.

• "To be reduced to oddments": to be left only with small, leftover pieces.

  • After the project, the material was reduced to oddments too small for any major use.

Variants and Related Words

• Oddments (plural noun): A collection of miscellaneous small items or remnants.

  • The drawer contained various oddments like buttons and paperclips.

• Remnant (noun): A small remaining quantity of something. (This is a close synonym but often implies a larger or more coherent leftover piece than an "oddment".)

Synonyms

• Fragment: A small part broken or separated off something.
• Scrap: A small piece or amount of something, especially one that is left over after the greater part has been used.
• Remainder: A part of something that is left over when other parts have been completed, used, or removed.

Related Phrases

• Bits and oddments: A common phrase emphasizing a collection of very small, miscellaneous items.
  • She sorted through the bits and oddments in the sewing box.

Related Idioms

• "A ragbag of oddments": A disorganized mixture of various different things.
  • The report was a ragbag of oddments, lacking a clear central argument.

Noun

1. something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting
2. a piece of cloth that is left over after the rest has been used or sold