whole

\ ˈhōl

How to pronounce whole (audio)

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Definition of whole

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a(1) : free of wound or injury : unhurt

(2) : recovered from a wound or injury : restored

(3) : being healed whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound— A. E. Housman

b : free of defect or impairment : intact

c : physically sound and healthy : free of disease or deformity

d : mentally or emotionally sound

2 : having all its proper parts or components : complete, unmodified whole milk a whole egg

3a : constituting the total sum or undiminished entirety : entire owns the whole island

b : each or all of the took part in the whole series of athletic events

4a : constituting an undivided unit : unbroken, uncut a whole roast suckling pig

b : directed to one end : concentrated your whole attention

5a : seemingly complete or total the whole idea is to help, not hinder

b : very great in quantity, extent, or scope feels a whole lot better now

6 : constituting the entirety of a person's nature or development educate the whole student

7 : having the same father and mother whole brother

whole

Definition of whole (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : a complete amount or sum : a number, aggregate, or totality lacking no part, member, or element

2 : something constituting a complex unity : a coherent system or organization of parts fitting or working together as one

in whole

: to the full or entire extent : wholly —usually used in the phrase in whole or in part

on the whole

1 : in view of all the circumstances or conditions : all things considered

2 : in general : in most instances : typically

whole

Definition of whole (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : wholly, entirely a whole new age group— Henry Chauncey

2 : as a complete entity

Other Words from whole Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about whole

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Choose the Right Synonym for whole

Adjective

perfect, whole, entire, intact mean not lacking or faulty in any particular. perfect implies the soundness and the excellence of every part, element, or quality of a thing frequently as an unattainable or theoretical state. a perfect set of teeth whole suggests a completeness or perfection that can be sought, gained, or regained. felt like a whole person again after vacation entire implies perfection deriving from integrity, soundness, or completeness of a thing. the entire Beethoven corpus intact implies retention of perfection of a thing in its natural or original state. the boat survived the storm intact

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 deposit Adverb We cooked the chicken whole. The frog swallowed the fly whole.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to report around here. — Christina Chaey, Bon Appétit, "The Summer Drink I’m Bringing Into Fall," 12 Sep. 2020 By late Thursday afternoon, the Woodward news cycle had made its inevitable way to a Trump press conference, the ritual moment wherein the President would denounce the book, deny wrongdoing, and say a whole lot of other words. — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, "Bob Woodward Finally Got Trump to Tell the Truth About COVID-19," 11 Sep. 2020 But, there isn’t a whole lot that can be done to regulate misinformation on social media platforms, Fargo said. — Alexandra Kukulka, chicagotribune.com, "AG Hill joins other attorneys general in signing suppression concern letter, but experts say FCC doesn’t have the authority," 11 Sep. 2020 These disciples have believed their whole life, so having faith is easy. — Dalene Rovenstine, EW.com, "The 100 recap: What did Clarke just do?," 10 Sep. 2020 Made from a material that has the look and finish of leather, the pants offer a structured yet slouchy fit with a whole lot more stretch. — Alex Warner, PEOPLE.com, "Spanx Just Created Leather Joggers That Are Actually Comfortable," 10 Sep. 2020 Damp conditions prevailed today despite not a whole lot of rain. — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, "PM Update: Flash flood watch for eastern parts of the area into the night," 9 Sep. 2020 But the whole experience really underscored the fact that the cultural gap between console and PC users was about more than just buttons versus keyboards. — Sid Meier, Ars Technica, "From Pong to Civilization: How I made “one more turn” work on consoles," 8 Sep. 2020 The junior has played quarterback his whole life before spending time at receiver and corner back last season to get on the field. — Marcus Gutierrez, Houston Chronicle, "Football: New QB Thomas hopes to lead Hargrave to a road win over Needville," 4 Sep. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The state as a whole added 4,808 confirmed and 1,502 probable cases, for a total of 6,310 new cases over the last seven days. — Ramsey Archibald | Rarchibald@al.com, al, "Heating up or cooling off? Coronavirus trajectory for each Alabama county: Week in review," 12 Sep. 2020 Brown said the state as a whole is a tinderbox with the most extreme fire conditions in three decades. — oregonlive, "Oregon wildfires should put state on ‘high alert,’ as 48 blazes burn, at least 3 people die, Gov. Kate Brown says," 10 Sep. 2020 The state as a whole has reported 87 cases per 100,000 people and a percent positive rate of 5.5% over the same time span. — Della Hasselle, NOLA.com, "No Phase 3 yet for New Orleans, so what's next? Possibly a Bourbon Street crackdown," 10 Sep. 2020 But the Lions don’t have much in the pass rushing department as a whole. — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Scouting Detroit Lions' defense and special teams: Changes everywhere, but for the better?," 10 Sep. 2020 As a whole, Chicago’s hitters have been better than average against Bauer and have a .217 batting average in 120 plate appearances. — Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, "Best bets for another showdown between Trevor Bauer and Yu Darvish," 10 Sep. 2020 The trust retains ownership of the land and maintains it for the benefit of homeowners present and future and the community as a whole. — Christopher Boone, The Conversation, "Community land trusts could help heal segregated cities," 10 Sep. 2020 Telehealth as a whole has seen a steep rise and later fall in demand for remote services, tied to the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns earlier this year, followed by gradual reopening that allowed more in-person medical visits. — Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, "As health tech flourished, Teladoc and Livongo saw an opportunity to ‘accelerate,’ executives say," 10 Sep. 2020 The question for Macomb County, and the election as a whole, is whether the loud and enthusiastic Trump supporters will translate to more votes or whether less-enthusiastic Biden voters and Trump haters will overwhelm them at the ballot box. — Emily Larsen, Washington Examiner, "Biden voters are the shy ones in pivotal Michigan county," 9 Sep. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb Mina and Sanniti jar them whole, which can be a bit messier to use. — Becky Krystal, Washington Post, "Staff picks: 8 condiments we swear by and how to use them," 4 Sep. 2020 Restrictions from past years governing removal of deer carcasses from CWD management zones remain in place, Keller said, noting that deer killed in these areas can’t be removed whole from CWD zones until test results have been returned. — Star Tribune, "Bigger bag limits, voluntary CWD testing new for Minnesota's 2020 deer season," 23 Aug. 2020 Leave the cherry tomatoes whole or slice them in half. — Ying Chu, Marie Claire, "What's Cookin' with David von Cannon," 30 Aug. 2020 Don't just swallow the moment whole without digesting what has actually happened here. — Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, "Howard University alum Chadwick Boseman's powerful commencement speech challenged students and praised protesters," 29 Aug. 2020 Then the predator would have gone to work on the carcass, trying to swallow it whole or in very large chunks, like an alligator ingesting its prey. — Jason Bittel, National Geographic, "13-foot marine predator found inside another's belly in shocking fossil 'turducken'," 20 Aug. 2020 Instead, Ohio State parents sent a letter to the Big Ten Saturday demanding answers, whole-heartedly backed by the OSU football coaching staff. — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, "The Big Ten’s decision to cancel fall football, and the multiple sides to the story," 16 Aug. 2020 First, a frog snags the beetle and gulps it down whole. — Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, "When This Beetle Gets Eaten by a Frog, It Heads for the ‘Back Door’," 5 Aug. 2020 Players with a medical opt out will receive a $350,000 stipend, whole those voluntarily opting out receive $150,000 as an advance against future salaries. — Barry Wilner, Star Tribune, "66 players opt out of NFL season due to coronavirus pandemic," 6 Aug. 2020

These 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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More Definitions for whole

whole

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of whole

(Entry 1 of 3)

: complete or full : not lacking or leaving out any part

: having all the parts : not divided or cut into parts or pieces

: great or large in size, extent, etc.

whole

noun

English Language Learners Definition of whole (Entry 2 of 3)

: something that is full or complete

whole

adverb

English Language Learners Definition of whole (Entry 3 of 3)

: entirely or completely

: in one piece that has not been cut into parts

See the full definition for whole in the English Language Learners Dictionary

whole

\ ˈhōl

\

Kids Definition of whole

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : made up of all its parts : total, entire the whole family

2 : all the the whole week

3 : not cut up or ground a whole onion

4 : not scattered or divided I gave it my whole attention.

5 : having all its proper parts : complete whole milk

6 : completely healthy or sound in condition Your care made me whole again.

whole

Kids Definition of whole (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : something that is full or complete The whole of my day was spent working.

2 : a sum of all the parts and elements the whole of creation

on the whole

1 : all things considered

2 : in most cases

whole

\ ˈhōl

\

Medical Definition of whole

: containing all its natural constituents, components, or elements : deprived of nothing by refining, processing, or separation whole milk

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