Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Containing all components; complete.
- adjective Not divided or disjoined; in one unit.
- adjective Constituting the full amount, extent, or duration.
- adjective Not wounded, injured, or impaired; sound or unhurt.
- adjective Having been restored; healed.
- adjective Having the same parents.
- noun A number, group, set, or thing lacking no part or element; a complete thing.
- noun An entity or system made up of interrelated parts.
- adverb Entirely; wholly.
- idiom (as a whole) All parts or aspects considered; altogether.
- idiom (on the whole) Considering everything.
- idiom (on the whole) In most instances or cases; as a rule.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Hale; healthy; sound; strong; well.
- Restored to a sound state; healed; made well.
- Unimpaired; uninjured: unbroken; intact: as, the dish is still whole; to get off with a whole skin.
- Entire; complete; without omission, reduction, diminution, etc.: as, a whole apple; the whole duty of man; to serve the Lord with one's whole heart; three whole days; the whole body.
- All; every part, unit, or member required to make up the aggregate: as, the whole city turned out to receive him.
- Without reserve; sincerely or entirely devoted.
- Unified; in harmony or accord; one.
- In mining. that part of a coal-seam in process of being worked in which the headings only have been driven, the rest remaining untouched, or before “working the broken” has begun.
- Synonyms and Entire, Total, etc. See
complete . - noun An entire thing; a thing complete in itself; the entire or total assemblage of parts; all of a thing without defect or exception.
- noun A complete system; a regular combination of parts; an organic unity.
- noun Synonyms Total, totality, entirety, amount, aggregate, gross, sum.
- Wholly; entirely.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Containing the total amount, number, etc.; comprising all the parts; free from deficiency; all; total; entire
- adjective Complete; entire; not defective or imperfect; not broken or fractured; unimpaired; uninjured; integral
- adjective Possessing, or being in a state of, heath and soundness; healthy; sound; well.
- adjective (Law of Descent) See under
Blood , n., 2. - adjective (Mus.) the note which represents a note of longest duration in common use; a semibreve.
- adjective (Math.) a number which is not a fraction or mixed number; an integer.
- adjective (Zoöl.), [Prov. Eng.] the common snipe, as distinguished from the smaller jacksnipe.
- noun The entire thing; the entire assemblage of parts; totality; all of a thing, without defect or exception; a thing complete in itself.
- noun A regular combination of parts; a system.
- noun See under
Committee . - noun considering all things; taking everything into account; in view of all the circumstances or conditions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
entire . - adjective
sound ,uninjured ,healthy . - adjective of food From which none of its constituents has been removed.
- adverb colloquial in
entirety ;entirely ;wholly - noun Something
complete , without any partsmissing . - noun An
entirety .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not injured
- adjective exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
- adjective including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
- adjective acting together as a single undiversified whole
- adverb to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
- noun an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The error of the opposite argument, is in assuming one thing, which, being denied, the whole fails; that is, it assumes that the _whole_ labor of the United States would be profitably employed without manufactures.
Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject E. N. [Editor] Elliott
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The Law secured to them the _whole of every seventh year; _ Lev.xxv. 3-6; thus giving to those who were servants during the entire period between the jubilees, _eight whole years, _ including the jubilee year, of unbroken rest.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society
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This principle is as follows: _government, as the representative of the will of the whole people, should in general, attempt the regulation, or control, of industrial matters only to benefit the people as a whole_.
Monopolies and the People Charles Whiting Baker
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Rule, it being but _two whole Notes_ from the next _half Note_ to it; the reason is this, the _Ninth_ is one _whole Note_ below the _Eighth_, therefore the 2 must be a _whole Note_ below the _Treble_, otherwise they would not be a true _Eighth_, therefore the _half Note_ is put between 2 and 3.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing Wherein is laid down plain and easie Rules for Ringing all sorts of Plain Changes Richard Duckworth
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The Law secured to them the _whole of every seventh year; _ Lev.xxv. 3-6; thus giving to those who were servants during the entire period between the jubilees, _eight whole years, _ including the jubilee year, of unbroken rest.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society
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According to metaphysic, the perception of matter is not the whole given fact with which we have to deal in working out this problem -- (it is not the whole given fact; for, as we have said, our apprehension of, or participation in, the perception of matter -- this is the whole given fact); -- but the perception of matter is the _whole objective_ part of the given fact.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 382, October 1847 Various
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The great thing in this war is to see the whole thing in proportion -- the _whole_ thing.
The Dark Forest Hugh Walpole 1912
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I used to think about dancing-school, and birthday parties, and rigging up, and summer fashions, and how many diamonds I'd have when I was married, and all that, the whole of the time, Peace — the _whole_ of it; then I got mad when my dresses didn't fit, and I used to strike Therése and Kate, if you'll believe it — when I was real angry that was.
Gypsy's Cousin Joy Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877
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It was a "mean old night" to the whole house; and when I say the _whole_ house, I mean both halves of it.
The Twin Cousins Sophie May 1869
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But it was unoccupied that he might fill a higher seat prepared, waiting for, and needing, not the undying part but the everlasting whole; for we are not _whole_ till we drop our dust!
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