WHAT


Meaning of WHAT in English

■ pronoun & determiner

1》 asking for information specifying something.

↘[as pronoun ] asking for repetition of something not heard or confirmation of something not understood.

2》 [as pronoun ] the thing or things that.

3》 ~ever.

4》 used to emphasize something surprising or remarkable.

■ interrogative adverb

1》 to ~ extent?

2》 informal, dated used for emphasis or to invite agreement: poor show, ~?

Phrases

and (or or ) ~ have you informal and/or anything else similar.

and ~ not informal and other similar things.

~ about ——?

1》 used when asking for information or an opinion.

2》 used to make a suggestion.

~-d'you-call-it (or ~'s-its name ) informal used as a substitute for a name not recalled.

~ for? informal for ~ reason?

~ if ——?

1》 ~ would result if ——?

2》 ~ does it matter if ——?

~ is more and as an additional point; moreover.

~ of ——? ~ is the news concerning ——?

~ of it? why should that be considered significant?

~'s-his (or -its ) -name another term for ~-d'you-call-it.

~'s ~ informal ~ is useful or important.

~ with because of.

Origin

OE hwæt , of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.