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:
Predictably, the outspoken sports pundit, who also weighs in with sharp takes on politics and popular culture, is not pleased with the assessment and is planning a fiery response: “Now y’all started something.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Despite Tyler's career taking her all over the world, she has been described by those living in Mumbles as a "Swansea girl through and through", and someone who "never forgot where she came from".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
It’s the second-fastest movie to reach that milestone, according to Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian, who sees a $10 billion year at the box office within reach.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Now it’s a provocation by two former NBA players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, who say they identify as women and wish to join the league.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Captain Colayco, the Filipino officer who sent Joey on her perilous mission to deliver the map, storms through the gates, leading the Allied Forces.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus repeatedly states that healthcare should never be a target.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
There is not one single reason vaccines are wasted and disposed of, but the WHO estimates this is the fate of half of all vaccines globally.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
WHO had the idea that the answer wasn’t off in theoryville, that the place to begin was at the scene of the crime!
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
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
The ambulance service in the West Midlands region, including Stourbridge and Staffordshire, said it had treated 68 people Thursday with symptoms such as smoke inhalation, 25 of whom were hospitalised.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
“But it is not always clear to whom one should be loyal. I wonder what Agatha Swanburne would say about that?”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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
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
He said as far as the service was concerned, homes were no longer at risk and he hoped some residents whose homes had been unaffected would be able to move back on Saturday evening.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige capped off his portion of the presentation by formally introducing Sadie Sink, whose role in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” had been kept under wraps before its release, as Jean Grey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Let me remind you that Major Puff was a puffin whose ancestors were responsible for winning half a dozen wars, not to mention twenty-eighty significant battles and countless skirmishes of varied importance.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
