whole step

noun Music.

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

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THESE WORDS FROM BROWN GIRL DREAMING!

Visualize yourself passing this quiz on words from Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisite verse novel “Brown Girl Dreaming,” and then take the quiz to prove you can do it! (Because you can.)
Question 1 of 10
What does “barren” mean?
a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides.
Worn down by dullness, tedious repetition.
unproductive; unfruitful
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
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