whole numbers

Cultural  

1. The set of familiar numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on) sometimes called natural numbers or counting numbers. When they are called counting numbers, zero is not included.

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The whole numbers are also called the positive integers (or the nonnegative integers, if zero is included).

Example Sentences

Astronomical-difficulty scores, which are combined on each event with an execution score out of 10, allow Biles to win competitions by whole numbers as most of her peers fight for half-tenths.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2024

Each pair of planets completes their orbits in times that are the ratios of whole numbers, allowing the planets to align and exert a gravitational push and pull on the other during their orbit.

From Salon • Feb. 6, 2024

I’m drawn in by questions about foundational structures, such as the whole numbers, that we don’t really have any tools to answer.

From Scientific American • Nov. 22, 2022

A third of American adults can’t do two-step math problems with whole numbers or handle common fractions or percentages, such as ¾ and 50 percent.

From Washington Post • Sep. 15, 2022

First you write down all the positive whole numbers in the world.

From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon