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:
“He is represented in the underlying criminal matter by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, appointed counsel to whom Nick has a right and who continues to represent him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Their biggest problem is who does Arteta pick?
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Park City, Utah, 2007: A friend who was a bigwig at Lehman Brothers invited me to give a short talk on Wall Street trends and then ski with a group of investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Talk of City signing 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi has been rumbling all summer, and the club have reportedly held talks with the Moroccan, who would cost an estimated £85m.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
What would it be like to be a tiny girl in a giant war, surrounded by people who underestimated you?
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The WHO verifies and records attacks on healthcare but does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The WHO said on Wednesday it hoped to reverse the spread of the disease within three months but warned that this meant bringing transmission under control - not ending the outbreak entirely.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"We are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us," WHO Africa director Dr Mohamed Janabi said at a news conference in the city of Bunia, which is at the heart of this outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
"The members recommended Ervebo, the only licensed Ebola vaccine, be prioritised for inclusion in a randomised clinical trial in the context of the ongoing outbreak," a WHO statement said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
He succeeded in getting WHO to agree to sponsor a meeting of drug companies; they would be urged to produce more second-line drugs, and competition would drive down prices, Jim thought.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Open models can make sense for big tech companies for whom they are loss leaders, costing them money but drawing users to other profitable parts of their businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
At their gravesites, we placed two metal sculptures, the “Final Blaze,” gifts from the Appalachian Trail community, many members of whom came to shovel earth upon the graves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Am I overlooking an important factor, or am I simply one of those retirees for whom Roth conversions don’t offer a significant benefit?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
It comes after roughly 78,000 migrants from Morocco arrived by sea into Ceuta in a matter of hours last month, 100 of whom died according to the Mayor of Ceuta.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Joylette would walk up and down the street inviting people to see her new baby, whom we immediately started calling Connie.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
The very first thing I saw there was an anime-style vertical video whose characters barely moved their lips and ended the whole thing with a verbatim “To Be Continue .. ” title card.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
Jade said she also felt sad for her nan's neighbours whose home was also affected.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Soon after opening a separate office in his native northern England he gave an interview there to Elizabeth Day, a writer, whose podcast "How to Fail" invites celebrities to reflect on mistakes they have made.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
They’ve met alums with careers in conservation whose federal jobs no longer exist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
“And more. You’ve had a narrow escape. You’re one lucky boy. What if the fire had spread into that sugarbush grove? Do you happen to recall whose particular grove that is?”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
