whole Hear it!

whole Definition

whole (hōl)

adjective

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

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.