I. ˈhōl, dial ˈhəl or with a vowel approaching ə adjective
Etymology: Middle English hool healthy, unhurt, entire, from Old English hāl; akin to Old High German heil healthy, unhurt, Old Norse heill, Gothic hails healthy, well, Welsh coel omen, Old Slavic cĕlŭ healthy, unhurt
1.
a.
(1) : free of wound or injury : unhurt
thousands … who have been killed or wounded … might still be alive and whole — Patrick McMahon
(2) : recovered from a wound or injury : restored
(3) : healed
here, with one balm for many fevers found, whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound — A.E.Housman
b. : free of defect, damage, or impairment : intact , unbroken , unmarred
anxious lest they were broken and thus make an evil omen, but they were whole — Pearl Buck
c. : physically sound and healthy : free of disease or deformity
they that are whole need not a physician — Lk 5:31 (Authorized Version)
2.
a. : having all its proper parts or components : lacking nothing that belongs to it : diminished or reduced in no way : entire
have given a whole philosophy of history interpreted through these factors — P.A.Sorokin
brings on a whole symphony of hammerings and hissings — R.M.Hodesh
a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of senators — U.S. Constitution
b. : containing all its natural constituents, components, or elements : deprived of nothing by refining, processing, or separation : unmodified
whole blood
whole milk
3.
a. : constituting the total sum or undiminished entirety of : integral
engineering feats … that have severed whole continental land masses — M.J.Herskovits
give their whole time to the study of patients — Official Register of Harvard University
a whole two miles of the riverbank had been acquired by the city — Leslie Charteris
b. : each of or all of the
lost money the whole 10 days
took part in the whole series of battles
c. chiefly Scotland : constituting the entire number or the totality of — usually used with the or a possessive pronoun
4.
a. : constituting an undivided unit : unbroken , uncut
whole nuts
a whole roast suckling pig
b. : directed to one end : completely focused or channeled : not scattered or dispersed : concentrated , undistracted
gave it his whole attention
put his whole soul into the performance
5. : seemingly complete or total
the whole aim of present strategy is to deter aggression — Denis Healey
: very great
felt a whole lot better for the news
: very many : extensive
whole farms were overrun
: large , tremendous
6. : constituting a person in his full nature, development, or relations: as
a. : involving mind, body, and emotions
the whole child — physical, emotional, social — is now considered in planning his remedial work — College English
the spiritual life is or should be a harmonious development of the whole man — W.R.Inge
b. : involving moral, social, economic and all other activities and relationships
the central focus of education is the student … this is the whole student in all his relationships and adjustments — D.D.Feder
Synonyms:
entire , total , all , gross : whole may imply that nothing, or nothing salient, has been left out, omitted, ignored, depreciated, alloyed, or taken away
devoting his whole energy to the task
he of the whole party might be supposed untouched by the passion of death — Thomas De Quincey
throughout his whole career he was keenly alive to the course of political events — W.C.Ford
entire may suggest a being completed, finished, or perfected
my strength is unimpaired, my mind is entire — O.S.J.Gogarty
always the entire person, never the mere teacher, who spoke — C.N.Greenough
total may imply that all possible items or constituents have been counted, weighed, reckoned, or considered
the Soviet threat is total; it affects every form of human endeavor — H.S.Truman
open our homes and our community life to these visitors from abroad so that they can see how we live in our total social environment — D.J.Shank
all , followed by the or by a possessive or demonstrative pronoun sometimes equals whole
all the city was in an uproar
all the cake was eaten
or sometimes entire
all their development
all their attention focused on the scene
or sometimes total
all his savings
gross adds the indication that no deductions, as for costs, taxes, and replacement funds, have been made
his gross salary was a thousand a month, but various taxes made large inroads in this
the foregoing figures are gross, rather than net dividends — Yrbk. of Railroad Information
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- out of whole cloth
II. adverb
Etymology: Middle English hoole, from hool, adjective, healthy, unhurt, entire — more at whole I
: entirely , altogether — used in combination chiefly in contrast to half
laying a half-dirty cloth upon a whole -dirty deal table — Sir Walter Scott
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English hool, from hool, adjective
1. : a complete amount or sum : a number, aggregate, or totality lacking no part, member, or element : an unreduced or unimpaired entirety
the whole of our creative literature … has this law of nature behind it — Herbert Agar
the whole of their relationship passed before him — Hamilton Basso
2. : something constituting a complex unity : a coherent system or organization of parts fitting or working together as one
built its “A” mill, incorporating parts of earlier buildings, and unifying the whole by a new facade — American Guide Series: Minnesota
a musical design can be discovered in particular scenes, and in his more perfect plays as wholes — T.S.Eliot
Synonyms: see sum
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- on the whole