museum piece

noun
1.
something suitable for keeping and exhibiting in a museum.
2.
something very old-fashioned or decrepit:
That car he drives is a museum piece.
Origin
1900-05
Examples from the web for museum piece
  • It will then become a museum piece, on display at the space centre.
  • So dismantled for spare parts then made a museum piece.
  • Mandatory busing for school desegregation is now a museum piece.
  • It turns out the dog pencil sharpener is actually a museum piece.
  • As a story and as a visual experience, it's more of a museum piece than a true delight.
  • The ethereal, mysterious kalimba is often misunderstood, misinterpreted and mistaken for being a museum piece or trinket.
  • It has become a museum piece largely doomed to collect dust on the bookshelf.
  • There were always a crowd of kids around and over the years it has become almost a museum piece.
British Dictionary definitions for museum piece

museum piece

noun
1.
an object of sufficient age or interest to be kept in a museum
2.
(informal) a person or thing regarded as antiquated or decrepit
Slang definitions & phrases for museum piece

museum piece

noun phrase

Something old-fashioned: His hat's a museum piece (1950s+)


Idioms and Phrases with museum piece

museum piece

An elderly or old-fashioned item or person, as in When are you going to sell that museum piece of a car? or Aunt Jane comes from another era—she's a real museum piece. This expression originated about 1900 for an article valuable enough for museum display but began to be used disparagingly from about 1915.