pieces together, censure, disproportionate

Under the settlement, which the S.E.C. announced Wednesday, Merrill Lynch agreed to a censure but did not admit or deny the S.E.C.’s allegations that it violated securities laws from 2002 to 2004 for having “inadequate policies and procedures” for controlling access to institutional customer order flow through the squawk boxes.



Israelis United on War as Censure Rises Abroad
By ETHAN BRONNER
Israel’s critics abroad call the Gaza war a disproportionate response. In Israel, very few people see it that way.


'Into the Tunnel: The Brief Life of Marion Samuel, 1931-1943'

By GÖTZ ALY
Reviewed by ALANA NEWHOUSE

Digging into historical archives, Götz Aly pieces together the life of an 11-year-old victim of the Holocaust.

Japan’s Upper House Censures Prime Minister
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
The opposition-controlled upper house of Parliament passed a nonbinding censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday.
Wikipedia article "Non-binding resolution"

Definition

disproportionate Hide phonetics
adjective
too large or too small in comparison to something else, or not deserving its importance or influence:
There are a disproportionate number of girls in the class.
The country's great influence in the world is disproportionate to its relatively small size.




censure Hide phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL
strong criticism or disapproval:
His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.

censure Hide phonetics
verb [T] FORMAL
Ministers were censured for their lack of decisiveness during the crisis.

cen・sure

━━ n., vt. 非難（する）, 叱責（する）; 酷評（する） ((for)).
cen・sur・a・ble　━━ a. 非難すべき.

piece together

tr.v., pieced, piec·ing, piec·es.

1. To mend by adding pieces or a piece to.
2. To join or unite the pieces of: He pieced together the vase. She pieced together an account of what had gone on during the stormy meeting.

idioms:

a piece of (one's) mind

1. Frank and severe criticism; censure.

of a piece

1. Belonging to the same class or kind.

piece by piece

1. In stages: took the clock apart piece by piece.

piece of cake

1. Informal. Something very easy to do: “Relearning to fly was a piece of cake” (Burton Bernstein).

piece of the action Slang.

1. A share of an activity or of profits: “a piece of the action in a Florida land deal” (Shana Alexander).

piece of work

1. A remarkable person, achievement, or product: “He's a very tough piece of work” (Ted Koppel).

[Middle English pece, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *pettia, probably of Celtic origin.]