WH-question

or wh-ques·tion

[ duhb-uhl-yoo-eych-kwes-chuhn ]

/ ˈdʌb əl yuˈeɪtʃˌkwɛs tʃən /

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noun Grammar.(in English)

a question containing a WH-word, often in initial position, and calling for an item of information to be supplied, as Where do you live?

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Compare yes-no question.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for WH-question

He also bragged about earning a PhD, a point Smerconish did not question.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She narrowed her eyes, bit her lip as if to chew over the question, and whisked some stray blond hairs away from her face.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her post-crown fame, though, only further begs the question: Why has there not been another Jewish Miss America since 1945?
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We were barely into the appetizer when he asked a fairly basic question—where did my family live?
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The woman in question, meanwhile, has business of her own to take care of—she is reported to be shopping a memoir.
From Playboy Prince to Dirty Old Man?|Tom Sykes|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was no doubt thought of his own loss in this question: yet there was, one may hope, a germ of solicitude for the mother too.
Children's Ways|James Sully
In fact, except for Ramona's help, it would have been a question whether even Alessandro could have made Baba work in harness.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
It's an idle question, I know; wise men and musty philosophers say that regrets are foolish.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Accordingly, the question "How far does the note issue under the new system seem likely to prove an elastic one?"
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
The moment was an awkward one, and Cynthia wished madly that she had not been prompted to ask that unfortunate question.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman

British Dictionary definitions for WH-question

WH question

noun

a question in English to which an appropriate answer is to give information rather than to answer "yes" or "no": typically introduced by the word who, which, what, where, when, or howAlso called: information question

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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