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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
The whole process of his extradition - from his detention in Manila to his arrival in The Hague - has been documented on social media by his daughter Kitty and Duterte himself through his aide.
A 91-year-old man says he lost his life savings to rogue traders who came to repair a few loose tiles but ended up replacing the whole roof.
"The whole world is facing tectonic changes which makes the current situation very different from those seen in the past, hence the fiscal change," he said.
A whole swathe of textiles, home appliances, food and agricultural products could be included, depending on a two-week consultation with stakeholders.
Five years ago, the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 was officially a pandemic and the whole world embarked on a shared experience like nothing before in any of our lives.
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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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