whole Hear it!

whole Definition

whole (hōl)

adjective

    1. in sound health; not diseased or injured
    2. Archaic healed: said of a wound
  2. not broken, damaged, defective, etc.; intact a whole yolk
  3. containing all the elements or parts; entire; complete a whole set, whole blood
  4. not divided up; in a single unit a whole cheese
  5. constituting the entire amount, extent, number, etc. the whole night
  6. having both parents in common a whole brother
  7. in all aspects of one's being, including the physical, mental, social, etc. the whole man
  8. Arith. integral and not mixed or fractional 28 is a whole number

Etymology: ME (Midland) hool, for hol, hal < OE hal, healthy, whole, hale: akin to Ger heil, ON heill < IE base *kailo-, sound, uninjured, auspicious > Welsh coel, omen

adverb

Informal completely; absolutely a whole new ballgame

noun

  1. the entire amount, quantity, extent, or sum; totality the whole of the estate
  2. a thing complete in itself, or a complete organization of integrated parts; a unity, entirety, or system

whole Related Forms

whole′·ness noun

whole Idioms

as a whole

as a complete unit; altogether

a whole lot (or bunch, etc.) of

Informal very many they ate a whole lot of hamburgers

made out of whole cloth

☆

completely fictitious or false; made up

on the whole

all things considered; in general

whole Synonyms

whole

modif.

  1. Entire

    all, complete, entire, total, inclusive, full, undivided, uncut, full-length, unexpurgated, unabbreviated, unabridged, integral, aggregate, indivisible, organismic, inseparable, indissoluble, gross, undiminished, utter.

    Antonyms unfinished*, partial*, incomplete. *

  2. Not broken or damaged

    thorough, mature, developed, unimpaired, unmarred, full, unbroken, undamaged, entire, in one piece, sound, solid, replete, untouched, without a scratch, intact, uninjured, undecayed, completed, preserved, perfect, complete, safe, in A-1 condition, shipshape, in good order, together, unified, plenary, exhaustive, conclusive, unqualified, fulfilled, accomplished, consummate, to the teeth*, A-OK*.

    Antonyms broken*, mutilated*, defective. *

  3. Not ill or injured

    hale, hearty, sound; see healthy 1, well 1. See syn. study at complete.

whole Synonyms

whole

n.

unity, totality, everything, oneness, entity, entirety, collectivity, sum, assemblage, aggregate, aggregation, body, lump, gross, entire stock, length and breadth, generality, mass, amount, bulk, quantity, universality, combination, complex, assembly, gross amount.

Antonyms part*, portion*, fraction.

as a whole

altogether, all told, all in all; see altogether 2.

whole Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • creation: The thinker exists first in a larger context; that of the whole of creation.
  • rest: What we have here is the agenda for the whole of the rest of the book of Exodus.
  • season: The WO argument Different people have called on all supporters to give the whole of the new season a fresh start.
  • parish: The whole of tthe parish except these three detatched parts was situated in the main portion of the county of Perth.
  • period: The cuckoo's stay in Britain is fairly short and it does not sing throughout the whole of that period.

Converse of object

  • cover: These microfiche indexes cover the whole of England, not just Nottinghamshire.
  • swallow: I have never seen roads like it before, giant potholes which I thought would swallow the bus whole at times.
  • occupy: He was later arrested at Nîmes when a plane parachuted materiel and was then set free when the Germans occupied the whole of France.
  • comprise: Initially EDO/MBM requested a large " exclusion zone " comprising the whole of Home Farm Industrial Estate.
  • serve: It is based in Wolverhampton but serves the whole of West Midlands region and beyond.
  • affect: The unfortunate may have symptoms affecting the whole of one side of the body.

Adjective modifier

  • unified: They also share a similarity of approach to writing poetry which links their work into a unified whole.
  • harmonious: You can't make a strong, harmonious whole by putting together incoherent elements.
  • homogeneous: Marriage = The dichotomy of contradictory themes which merge into a homogeneous whole that epitomizes the fragile, ethereal nature of the human condition.

Modifies a noun

  • thing: I'm writing the whole thing which is cool.
  • range: For the more textured finish a whole range of methods can be used.
  • lot: Got the feeling they had a whole lot more in reserve.
  • host: A whole host of gluten free dishes are clearly marked on our restaurant menus.
  • family: Speak French Vacation courses in France for the whole family.
  • world: Study opened up a whole new world to me.