whole
adjective
\
Definition of whole
(Entry 1 of 3)
whole
nounDefinition of whole (Entry 2 of 3)
whole
adverbDefinition of whole (Entry 3 of 3)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for whole
Synonyms: Adjective
all, concentrated, entire, exclusive, focused (also focussed), undivided
Synonyms: Noun
aggregate, full, sum, summation, sum total, total, totality
Antonyms: Adjective
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Examples of whole in a Sentence
Adjective
The doctor assured me that the whole procedure would only take a few minutes. The whole place was remodeled. It looks great now. It's been a whole week since I've seen him. I spent the whole summer traveling through Europe. The whole evening was a great success. She read the whole book in one day. I've been waiting my whole life for this. We decided to forget the whole thing. We cooked a whole chicken. The community center offers a whole range of programs.Noun
the landlord eventually refunded the whole of our depositAdverb
We cooked the chicken whole. The frog swallowed the fly whole.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
In the meantime, head to dermstore.com to check out the whole collection. — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, "Harry Josh’s Famous Blow-Dryer Is on Sale Right Now, and It’s Such a Good Deal," 7 Mar. 2019 A few months ago, a longtime editor who had recently left gave me a whole year of American Vogue issues from 2003. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Sorry Marie Kondo—I Love Mess!," 12 Feb. 2019 After a whole year of keeping things on the down-low since meeting when Stone hosted SNL, this might be a turning point for the couple. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Emma Stone and New Boyfriend Dave McCary Made a Rare Appearance at the SAG Awards," 28 Jan. 2019 For me, the most exciting thing about the start of a new year is having the opportunity to cook a whole year's worth of new recipes. — Audrey Bruno, SELF, "9 Healthy Foods Pinterest Can't Wait to Make in 2019," 16 Jan. 2019 The track is brimming with self-empowering aphorisms to inspire a whole year's worth of Instagram captions. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "All of the New Music You Should Be Listening to in 2019," 10 Jan. 2019 Here’s a time-lapse demonstration of the phenomenon shot over the course of a whole year from space. — Brian Resnick, Vox, "The winter solstice is Friday: 8 things to know about the shortest day of the year," 18 Dec. 2018 Unusual Features A range of unusual features have been introduced in the last several years to make mowing easier or the whole mowing experience better. — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "The Lawn Mower Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Buy the Right Mower," 22 Feb. 2019 The whole experience ended up being a learning moment, Tori said. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "Tori Roloff Shares Details About Her Son Jackson's Scary Doctor Visit," 9 Jan. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
One widely accepted definition of socialism is a political and economic philosophy advocating that the entire means of production, distribution and exchange are owned or regulated by the community as a whole, i.e., the state. — WSJ, "Is Socialism the Bright Future Once Again?," 25 Feb. 2019 For Congo as a whole, nearly eight million children are in need of humanitarian assistance, 7.4 million are unable to attend school, and more than two million are suffering severe acute malnutrition. — Nick Turse, Teen Vogue, "The Democratic Republic of Congo Has Humanitarian Crises Leaving Millions of Children In Danger," 14 Nov. 2018 As can be said of the movie as a whole, the depiction of the sword is more inspired by myth than reality. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "'Outlaw King' vs. 'Braveheart': Which Movie Gets Scotland Right?," 13 Nov. 2018 Their opening monologue also included commentary on #MeToo, TV diversity as a whole, the Roseanne scandal, and This Is Us' weepiness, among other topics. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Emmys 2018 Best Moments: 12 Unforgettable Things You Need to Know About," 17 Sep. 2018 In fact, Vanderbilt's feed happens to be one of the most charming on the internet as a whole. — Roxanne Adamiyatt, Town & Country, "Anderson Cooper Pays Tribute to His Mother Gloria Vanderbilt on Her 95th Birthday," 20 Feb. 2019 Conversation swiveled between industries as the likes of Princess Maria-Anunciata of Liechtenstein and Lil Miquela cocreator Trevor McFedries touched on art, entertainment, and Los Angeles as a whole. — David Graver, Vogue, "Rimowa and Garage Magazine Celebrate Artist Alex Israel at a Frieze Los Angeles Fete," 19 Feb. 2019 Photo: Alexandros Avramidis for the Wall Street Journal Around 14,000 people crossed the Evros frontier from January through September of this year, more than double the number for the whole of last year, according to the Greek police. — Nektaria Stamouli, WSJ, "Turks Fleeing Erdogan Fuel New Influx of Refugees to Greece," 1 Dec. 2018 There’s a very tough story on Cheddar, a good story, about problems at Snapchat, which just me, is so normal for the whole. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full video and transcript: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel at Code 2018," 30 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
Wealthy families are building whole-house generators and installing batteries on their properties. — Andrew Scurria And Arian Campo-flores, WSJ, "Puerto Rico Picks Bidders for Ailing Power Utility," 20 Jan. 2019 Economists generally say low barriers to trade and investment reduce consumer prices and allow capital to flow to the most productive companies and industries, making the economy as a whole more prosperous. — Paul Kiernan, WSJ, "Global Monetary-Policy Official Decries U.S. Trade Measures," 25 Aug. 2018 Nvidia’s dueling GeForce Now services just got a whole less complicated—and a whole lot more appealing for Shield TV owners. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Nvidia Shield TV levels up to full-featured PC gaming with free GeForce Now beta," 11 July 2018 The squabs can be served whole or cut in half with kitchen shears; or, use a sharp knife to carve the meat away from the breast cage. — Daniel Boulud, ELLE Decor, "Oven-Roasted Squab and Watercress Salad Recipe," 17 Aug. 2011 Fish, whether whole or cut, should be firm and shiny, but never soft, mushy, sticky or oily, signs of age. — Nicole Sours Larson, sandiegouniontribune.com, "White fish & vegetables," 9 July 2018 The prison had obtained whole-head lettuce that was consumed by the prisoners. — Lena H. Sun And Joel Achenbach, chicagotribune.com, "Source of E.coli-contaminated romaine lettuce still a mystery, FDA says," 24 Apr. 2018 And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Bruges, a fairy-tale town just 20 minutes from Ghent by train, with brewhouses tucked between the castles, is a whole different kind of cool. — Clodagh Kinsella, Condé Nast Traveler, "Northern Belgium Is Our New Favorite Food and Design Destination," 8 May 2018 But does the deep and traditional connection with women’s tennis make the men’s game and the sport as a whole more relevant to today’s and tomorrow’s audiences? — Christopher Clarey, New York Times, "Serena Williams Is Set to Reclaim Her Leading Role in Tennis," 29 Jan. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Learn More about whole
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
'Wholistic': A Natural Evolution Of...
'Wholistic': A Natural Evolution Of 'Holistic'
The 'w' brings the meaning full circle.
'Whole Milk', 'British English', and 16...
'Whole Milk', 'British English', and 16 More Retronyms
New(er) words for old things
Where Does 'Hello' Come From?
Where Does 'Hello' Come From?
Don't answer the phone with 'ahoy'
Dictionary Entries near whole
Statistics for whole
Last Updated
12 Mar 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for whole
The first known use of whole was before the 12th century
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More Definitions for whole
whole
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of whole
(Entry 1 of 3)
whole
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of whole (Entry 2 of 3)
whole
adverbEnglish Language Learners Definition of whole (Entry 3 of 3)
See the full definition for whole in the English Language Learners Dictionary
whole
adjective
\
Kids Definition of whole
(Entry 1 of 2)
whole
nounKids Definition of whole (Entry 2 of 2)
whole
adjective
\
Medical Definition of whole
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