Dictionary.com

whole step

noun Music.

an interval of two semitones, as A-B or B-C♯; a major second.

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Also called wholetone .

Origin of whole step

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby whole step

wholesaling, whole shebang, whole sister, wholesome, whole-souled, whole step, wholetime, whole tone, whole-tone scale, whole-wheat, wholism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for whole step

  • If strictly logical terminology is to be insisted upon the whole-tone scale should be called the "whole-step" scale.

    Music Notation and Terminology|Karl W. Gehrkens

  • The interval between the two tones may therefore be either a half-step or a whole-step.

    Music Notation and Terminology|Karl W. Gehrkens

  • The expressions half-step and whole-step are much to be preferred to half-tone and whole-tone, as being more clear and definite.

    Music Notation and Terminology|Karl W. Gehrkens