Etymology : Middle English hool healthy, unhurt, entire, from Old English hAl; akin to Old High German heil healthy, unhurt, Old Norse heill, Old Church Slavonic celu
Pronunciation : hOl
Function : adjective
Date : before 12th century
1. totality; completeness; entirety. complete, not in pieces; full; entire, including every part; healthy, well. whole\whole\ , a. [oe. hole, hol, hal, hool, as. hāl well, sound, healthy; akin to ofries. & os. h l, d. heel, g. heil, icel. heill, sw. hel whole, dan. heel, goth. hails well, sound, oir. c l augury. cf. hale, hail to greet, heal to cure, health, holy.].
2. containing the total amount, number, etc.; comprising all the parts; free from deficiency; all; total; entire; as, the whole earth; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation. "on their whole host i flew unarmed." the whole race of mankind.
3. complete; entire; not defective or imperfect; not broken or fractured; unimpaired; uninjured; integral; as, a whole orange; the egg is whole; the vessel is whole. my life is yet whole in me. i.
4. 3. possessing, or being in a state of, heath and soundness; healthy; sound; well. [she] findeth there her friends hole and sound. they that be whole need not a physician. ix.
5. when sir lancelot's deadly hurt was whole.whole blood. (law of descent) see:
under blood, n., 2.whole note (mus.), the note which represents a note of longest duration in common use; a semibreve.whole number (math.), a number which is not a fraction or mixed number; an integer.whole snipe (zo?l.), the common snipe, as distinguished from the smaller jacksnipe. [prov. eng.].
6. Containing the total amount, number, etc.; comprising all the parts; free from deficiency; all; total; entire; as, the whole earth; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation.
7. Complete; entire; not defective or imperfect; not broken or fractured; unimpaired; uninjured; integral; as, a whole orange; the egg is whole; the vessel is whole.
8. Possessing, or being in a state of, heath and soundness; healthy; sound; well.
9. The entire thing; the entire assemblage of parts; totality; all of a thing, without defect or exception; a thing complete in itself.
10. A regular combination of parts; a system. an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; "how big is that part compared to the whole?"; "the team is a unit" all of something including all its component elements or parts; "Europe considered as a whole"; "the whole of American literature" including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete; "gave his whole attention"; "a whole wardrobe for the tropics"; "the whole hog"; "a whole week"; "the baby cried the whole trip home"; "a whole loaf of bread" having the same parents; "whole brothers and sisters".
11. 1. If you refer to the whole of something, you mean all of it. He has said he will make an apology to the whole of Asia for his country's past behaviour I was cold throughout the whole of my body. the whole of August. Whole is also an adjective. He'd been observing her the whole trip We spent the whole summer in Italy that year. = entire.
12. A whole is a single thing which contains several different parts. An atom itself is a complete whole, with its electrons, protons and neutrons and other elements.
13. If something is whole, it is in one piece and is not broken or damaged. I struck the glass with my fist with all my might; yet it remained whole Small bones should be avoided as the dog may swallow them whole and risk internal injury. = intact.
14. emphasis You use whole to emphasize what you are saying. It was like seeing a whole different side of somebody His father had helped invent a whole new way of doing business. = totally Whole is also an adjective. That saved me a whole bunch of money.
15. If you refer to something as a whole, you are referring to it generally and as a single unit. He described the move as a victory for the people of South Africa as a whole As a whole we do not eat enough fibre in Britain.
16. You use on the whole to indicate that what you are saying is true in general but may not be true in every case, or that you are giving a general opinion or summary of something. On the whole, people miss the opportunity to enjoy leisure = generally.