whole (həʊl
)
Definitions
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
- See out of whole cloth
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
- See as a whole
- See on the whole
Alternative Forms
ˈwholeness nounWord Origin
Old English hāl, hǣl; related to Old Frisian hāl, hēl, Old High German heil, Gothic hails; compare haleOld English related to Old Frisian Old High German Gothic compare 1Synonyms
View thesaurus entry=
undamaged,
intact,
unscathed,
unbroken,
good,
sound,
perfect,
mint,
untouched,
flawless,
unhurt,
faultless,
unharmed,
in one piece
uninjured,
inviolate,
unimpaired,
unmutilated
=
healthy,
well,
better,
strong,
sound,
fit,
recovered,
healed,
cured,
robust,
hale,
in good health
in fine fettle,
able-bodied,
= in one piece
in one,
Translations
- British English:
whole
You use whole before a noun to refer to all of that thing.Have the whole cake.həʊl ADJECTIVE Have the whole cake.
- Spanish:
entero
adj entera
- French:
entier
adj
- German:
ganz
adj
- Chinese: 完整的 adj
- Arabic: بِكَامِلِهِ adj
- Portuguese: inteiro adj inteira
- Russian: целый adj целая
- Croatian: čitav adj čitava
- Czech: celý adj
- Danish: hele adj
- Dutch: hele adj
- Finnish: kokonainen adj
- Greek: ολόκληρος adj ολόκληρη
- Italian: intero adj intera
- Japanese: 全体の no_posp
- Korean: 전체의 adj
- Norwegian: hel adj
- Polish: cały adj cała
- Brazilian Portuguese: inteiro adj inteira
- European Spanish:
entero
adj entera
- Swedish: hel adj helt
- Thai: ทั้งหมด adj
- Turkish: bütün adj
- Vietnamese: toàn bộ adj
- British English:
whole
A whole is a single thing which contains several different parts.həʊl NOUN
- Spanish:
todo
nm
- French:
tout
nm
- German:
Ganzes
nnt
- Chinese: 全部 n
- Arabic: الكُلّ n
- Portuguese: total nm
- Russian: целое nnt
- Croatian: cjelina nf
- Czech: celek nm
- Danish: hele nnt
- Dutch: geheel nnt
- Finnish: kokonaisuus n
- Greek: σύνολο nnt
- Italian: tutto nm
- Japanese: 全体 n
- Korean: 전체 n
- Norwegian: hele nnt
- Polish: całość nf
- Brazilian Portuguese: total nm
- European Spanish:
todo
nm
- Swedish: helhet nutr
- Thai: สิ่งที่ครบถ้วน n
- Turkish: bütün n
- Vietnamese: tất cả n
Usage examples
Each circle followed in turn, till all the magic they'd summoned had risen to fill the whole huge ice ceiling with swirling Charter marks.
, LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR (2001)The whole national grid must be throbbing brightly enough at the moment to alert even the most myopic extra-terrestrials floating by Earth.
Country Life (2004)Brian Cowen has been working on the whole parliamentary accountability issue.
Irish Times (2002)He must not be swayed by dubious political actions into doing something which would be totally disastrous for the whole industry.
Glasgow Herald (2001)They found relationships with their families and friends distorted, their sexuality confused and their whole being affected.
, BEYOND FEAR (2002)