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

Related Forms:

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

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms whole idiom

medical whole definition - medical

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

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.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

whole Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • creation: The thinker exists first in a larger context; that of the whole of creation.

Converse of object

  • cover: These microfiche indexes cover the whole of England, not just Nottinghamshire.

Adjective modifier

  • unified: They also share a similarity of approach to writing poetry which links their work into a unified whole.

Modifies a noun

  • thing: I'm writing the whole thing which is cool.
whole usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

whole quotes

Now a whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

-Aristotle

A total work of art is only possible in the context of the whole of society. Everyone will be a necessary co- creator of a social architecture, and, so long as anyone cannot participate, the ideal form of democracy has not beenreached.Whether peopleare artists, assemblers of machines or nurses, it is a matter of participating in the whole.

-Beuys,Joseph

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in His hand Who saith,'A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust God: See all nor be afraid!'

-Browning, Robert

whole quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"whole." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/whole>

APA Style

whole. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/whole

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