who
pronoun
what person or persons?.
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 strongest benefits were seen among participants who received more structured guidance, including regular coaching and support.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
Natural midfielder Valentin Barco, who joined from Strasbourg in the summer, has been overlooked in favour of Gusto in all three of Chelsea's Premier League matches.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
The motorcyclist and the two protesters who were knocked down were hospitalized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
As glucose and sorbitol intake climbs, even people who carry beneficial sorbitol-degrading bacteria may eventually overwhelm those microbes' ability to keep up.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
Breaking these rules can create significant backlash for the Carville administration and from the public, who still carry a deep-seated fear of the disease.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
A total of 2,557 deaths from 5,375 confirmed cases of Ebola have been registered in the DRC, according to the WHO.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
"We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an emergency meeting on the outbreak.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
A 2018-2020 outbreak in the DRC, previously considered the country's deadliest, killed 2,299 people out of 3,381 confirmed cases, according to WHO figures based on Congolese data.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
The WHO has said it hopes to reverse the spread of the disease within three months but warned that this meant bringing transmission under control and not ending the outbreak entirely.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Without saying anything else, he wrote down: WHO WE ARE!
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
Last Wednesday the union launched what it called a one-day “unfair labor practice strike” in which labor organizers—most of whom weren’t employed by Amazon—blocked vehicles from entering and exiting the facility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
And they have James, the quick-thinking, quick-acting, 6-foot-2, 215-pounder whom Harbaugh has called “the best safety he’s ever seen” showing up every day, happy to be pushed hard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Flock Safety's CEO and founder, Garrett Langley, told the BBC it's up to individual cities to decide how long to store data, and what information to share with whom.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Paxton bought the property in 2006 with a group of investors including Rob Orr, with whom he served in the Texas House of Representatives.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
I noticed a little boy trotting around whom I heard the others call Baby Joe.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
That phrase — “a sense of ownership” — seems almost paradoxical for an institution whose entire premise is that you do not need to own the things you want to use.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Georgia’s experience was similar to Maya’s, another Finch user whose name has been changed for privacy.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
London is one of the two cities whose tale this is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
There was already evidence of that through the sale of Martinelli, whose £60m exit to Al-Hilal was the club's record departure.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The family followed these directions to the letter; they couldn’t risk missing Leila or Frankie, whose childhood pranks “would fill a book.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
