whole

American  

[hohl] / hoʊl /

adjective

1. comprising the full quantity, amount, extent, number, etc., without diminution or exception; entire, full, or total.

   He ate the whole pie. They ran the whole distance.

   Synonyms:

   complete, integral, undiminished

   Antonyms:

   partial

2. containing all the elements properly belonging; complete.

   We have a whole set of antique china.

3. undivided; in one piece.

   to swallow a thing whole.

4. Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.

5. not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact.

   Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.

   Synonyms:

   perfect, unimpaired

6. uninjured or unharmed; sound.

   He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.

7. pertaining to all aspects of human nature, especially one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development.

   education for the whole person.

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noun

• wholes
  plural

1. the whole assemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quantity, account, extent, or number.

   He accepted some of the parts but rejected the whole.

   Synonyms:

   aggregate, totality

   Antonyms:

   part

2. a thing complete in itself, or comprising all its parts or elements.

3. an assemblage of parts associated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.

idioms

1. as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether.

   As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.

2. on / upon the whole,

   1. in view of all the circumstances; after consideration.

      There were upsides and downsides, but on the whole I thought it best to make the trip now rather than later.

   2. disregarding exceptions; in general.

      On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.

3. out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious.

   a story made out of whole cloth.

whole British  

/ həʊl /

adjective

1. containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; complete

   a whole apple

2. constituting the full quantity, extent, etc

3. uninjured or undamaged

4. healthy

5. having no fractional or decimal part; integral

   a whole number

6. of, relating to, or designating a relationship established by descent from the same parents; full

   whole brothers

7. informal entirely without a factual basis

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adverb

1. in an undivided or unbroken piece

   to swallow a plum whole

noun

1. all the parts, elements, etc, of a thing

2. an assemblage of parts viewed together as a unit

3. a thing complete in itself

4. considered altogether; completely

5. 1. taking all things into consideration

   2. in general

whole More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing whole

• as a whole
• go whole hog
• on the whole
• out of whole cloth

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Synonym Usage

Whole, total mean the entire or complete sum or amount. The whole is all there is; every part, member, aspect; the complete sum, amount, quantity of anything, not divided; the entirety: the whole of one's property, family. Total also means whole, complete amount, or number, but conveys the idea of something added together or added up: The total of their gains amounted to millions.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wholeness
  noun
• self-whole
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wholes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of whole

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective and noun hole, hool, Old English adjective hāl; cognate with Dutch heel, German heil, Old Norse heill; see hale ¹, heal; spelling with w reflects dialect form

Explanation

Something that exists in its entirety is whole. If there are eight slices of pizza and you eat half, you've eaten four of them. If you eat the whole pizza, you've somehow managed to eat all eight slices. In terms of mental or physical health, whole describes someone who is healthy or uninjured. It might take you a while after a traumatic experience to feel whole again. Whole siblings are brothers and sisters who share both parents (as opposed to half siblings, who have only one parent in common). All the parts of an object taken collectively make up the whole of that object.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whole wholes

“We continue to see a prolonged drought in our future. So continuing to work together as a whole within the basin is going to be extremely important.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

StormWall, which involves school-bus-size satellites and a whole lot of salt, could provide an ionic “air bag” for the Earth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

In this case, the findings suggest that understanding vaccine readiness may require looking at the immune system as an interconnected whole instead of concentrating on one antibody or one disease.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

Such incidents have left many Americans mistrustful of weather apps as a whole, and desperate for viable alternatives.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

The Whole Brainers will turn out to be right about the complex interconnections of the brain but wrong about the brain acting as a whole.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

In Mangold’s hands, parts become wholes and the exhibition a master class in synecdoche: the tree is the forest; the painter a human representative negotiating with the natural world.

From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2023

Food, trinkets and paper offerings are also extended to ancestors or deities, including wholes chickens, fruit, tea, sculptures, incense and candles.

From Fox News ● Jan. 27, 2022

Fragments force quick reading, ask for impressionistic understanding, and suggest parts rather than wholes.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

Saar hops, skips and jumps among media, extracting the best of each and creating wholes greater than the sum of their parts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2020

As wholes, or parts, with movement or just motionless figures, with special attention to the color spots or ignoring them, with lots of ideas or just a few stereotyped responses.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

Related Words

• full
• perfect