who
pronoun
what person or persons?.
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who
1 American
[hoo]
/ hu /
pronoun
-
whom,
objective
-
whose
possessive
-
what person or persons?.
Who did it?
-
(of a person) of what character, origin, position, importance, etc..
Who does she think she is?
-
the person that or any person that (used relatively to represent a specified or implied antecedent).
It was who you thought.
-
(used relatively in restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses to represent a specified antecedent, the antecedent being a person or sometimes an animal or personified thing).
Any kid who wants to can learn to swim.
-
Archaic. the person or persons who.
idioms
WHO
2
American
[duhb-uhl-yoo-eych-oh]
/ ˈdʌb əlˌjuˈeɪtʃˈoʊ /
abbreviation
who
1
British
/ huː /
pronoun
-
which person? what person? used in direct and indirect questions
he can't remember who did it
who met you?
-
used to introduce relative clauses with antecedents referring to human beings
the people who lived here have left
-
the one or ones who; whoever
bring who you want
WHO
2
British
abbreviation
Usage
What is WHO? The World Health Organization, commonly abbreviated as WHO, is an agency of the United Nations that works to promote public health around the world. One of its principal focuses is combating communicable diseases, such as influenza, HIV, and malaria. In 2020, the World Health Organization notably helped coordinate international efforts to control and prevent the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization was founded on April 7, 1948, when its constitution came into force. WHO inherited the activities of its precursors, the International Office of Public Health, founded in 1907, and the League of Nations Health Organization (LNHO), which was dissolved in 1946. As stated in its constitution, the World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The organization is guided by the principles that health is a fundamental human right and that every person should enjoy the highest standard of health. The World Health Organization helped lead one of the greatest public health achievements in history: the eradication of smallpox, a highly contagious disease that has ravaged humanity since antiquity. But in 1979, WHO declared smallpox officially eradicated—that is, eliminated as a naturally occurring disease—as the result of vaccination programs. The World Health Organization was also a major player in the near eradication of polio, a viral disease that can cause debilitating muscle weakness. WHO has helped spearhead efforts against many other communicable diseases, including Ebola, HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. While best known for its work in fighting communicable diseases, the World Health Organization pursues a broad array of programs and projects across the globe addressing:
- noncommunicable diseases, such as cancer and diabetes
- health-related issues across people’s lifetimes
- tobacco and drug use
- environmental health issues, including clean air and water
- food safety and security
- road safety
- emergency response
- healthcare policies, including seeking universal healthcare coverage
Commonly Confused
The typical usage guide statement about the choice between who and whom says that the choice must be determined by the grammar of the clause within which this pronoun occurs. Who is the appropriate form for the subject of a sentence or clause: Who are you? The voters who elected him have not been disappointed. Whom is the objective form: Whom did you ask? To whom are we obliged for this assistance? This method of selecting the appropriate form is generally characteristic of formal writing and is usually followed in edited prose. In most speech and writing, however, since who or whom often occurs at the beginning of the sentence or clause, there is a strong tendency to choose who no matter what its function. Even in edited prose, who occurs at least ten times as often as whom, regardless of grammatical function. Only when it directly follows a preposition is whom more likely to occur than who: Mr. Erickson is the man to whom you should address your request. In natural informal speech, whom is quite rare. Who were you speaking to? is far more likely to occur than the “correct” To whom were you speaking? or Whom were you speaking to? However, the notion that whom is somehow more “correct” or elegant than who leads some speakers to make an inappropriate hypercorrection: Whom are you? The person whom is in charge has left the office. See also than .
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of who
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hwā; cognate with Old High German hwer, Gothic hwas; akin to Greek tís, Irish cé, Latin quis, Latvian kas, Russian kto, Sanskrit ka
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The effort has drawn billionaires and Trump-linked power-brokers, the scions of Cuban-American dynasties built on sugar, and immigrants who amassed fortunes over decades in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
In living rooms, hotel conference centers, law offices and private clubs across the city, they are gaming out who could lead Cuba’s nine million people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Cousins took the snap and pitched the ball to Ashton Jeanty, who in turn threw it back to Cousins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"In the Republic, there cannot be a category of citizens who have the right of life or death over other citizens."
From Barron's
Japanese propaganda also targeted American troops who were stationed in the Philippines.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
According to the WHO, 695 confirmed cases and 138 confirmed deaths had been reported in the DRC and Uganda as of June 11.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, and victims’ corpses are highly infectious, according to the WHO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Burnout and depression are distinct conditions, and the WHO does not consider burnout to be a mental health condition or illness.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
The WHO confirmed that 20,000 doses would be used in a clinical trial to assess the vaccine's effectiveness against Bundibugyo, while 50,000 doses will be administered to front-line health workers.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Farmer, Kim, andBayona collected a number of official WHO statements and read them with dismay.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Saylor never specified whose generational wealth will be transferred to whom, but the hope he was offering proved too much for most attendees to resist.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
The UJC has helped to train more than 1,050 British coaches and referees this year, some of whom were at Saturday's game.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
She is almost painfully careful not to ascribe blame to the growing presence in Germany of Muslim immigrants, among whom there has been a hardening of anti-Zionist public pronouncements since Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
There were about 50 people, many of whom had worked on his election campaigns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Young agreed and recommended a highly talented graduate student named George Bass, whom he felt would be most capable of handling the project.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
They see him as someone whose connections and ambition could be used to shake up the regime from within, according to people familiar with the discussions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
He replaces his fellow Black Cap, whose tenure as Test coach began with stunning highs before turning sour with the Ashes defeat and his sacking this summer.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
That would have been especially troublesome for a community whose religious festivals were closely connected with agriculture, harvests, first fruits, and the seasonal cycle.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Paxton, whose unsavory resume includes impeachment, indictment, petty theft and charges of adultery, has managed the rare feat of turning his race against Talarico into a nail-biter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
I’m afraid this is all going to sound kind of pathetic, especially to someone like Luna, whose dad applauds for her impromptu tumbling passes and picks her up from writing class.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
