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whole
[ hohl ]
adjective
- comprising the full quantity, amount, extent, number, etc., without diminution or exception; entire, full, or total:
He ate the whole pie. They ran the whole distance.
Synonyms: undiminished, complete, integral
Antonyms: partial
- containing all the elements properly belonging; complete:
We have a whole set of antique china.
- undivided; in one piece:
to swallow a thing whole.
- Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.
- not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact:
Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.
Synonyms: unimpaired, perfect
- uninjured or unharmed; sound:
He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.
- pertaining to all aspects of human nature, especially one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development:
education for the whole person.
noun
- the whole assemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quantity, account, extent, or number:
He accepted some of the parts but rejected the whole.
Antonyms: part
- a thing complete in itself, or comprising all its parts or elements.
- an assemblage of parts associated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.
whole
/ həʊl /
adjective
- containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; complete
a whole apple
- constituting the full quantity, extent, etc
- uninjured or undamaged
- healthy
- having no fractional or decimal part; integral
a whole number
- of, relating to, or designating a relationship established by descent from the same parents; full
whole brothers
- out of whole cloth informal.entirely without a factual basis
adverb
- in an undivided or unbroken piece
to swallow a plum whole
noun
- all the parts, elements, etc, of a thing
- an assemblage of parts viewed together as a unit
- a thing complete in itself
- as a wholeconsidered altogether; completely
- on the whole
- taking all things into consideration
- in general
Derived Forms
- ˈwholeness, noun
Other Words From
- whole·ness noun
- self-whole adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of whole1
Idioms and Phrases
- as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether:
As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.
- on / upon the whole,
- in view of all the circumstances; after consideration:
There were upsides and downsides, but on the whole I thought it best to make the trip now rather than later.
- disregarding exceptions; in general:
On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.
- out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious:
a story made out of whole cloth.
More idioms and phrases containing whole
- as a whole
- go whole hog
- on the whole
- out of whole cloth
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
In that photo, Merabet has a big smile that spreads across his whole face and lights up his eyes.
“We talked about the science the whole time the other day,” Krauss told The Daily Beast in a phone interview.
If the Israel model ban were directed towards disordered eating, Ravin says she would support it whole-heartedly.
What an amazing thing to be able to listen to any music you want, a whole world of bands.
And Air Force assessors are the first to say such imaging never tells the whole story.
You would not think it too much to set the whole province in flames so that you could have your way with this wretched child.
Now, it immediately occurred to Davy that he had never in his whole life had all the plums he wanted at any one time.
But Polavieja started his campaign with the immense advantage of having the whole of the dry season before him.
All changes are to be Rang either by walking them (as the term is) or else Whole-pulls, or Half-pulls.
The plant as a whole remains green until late in the autumn.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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