whole

[ hohl ]

/ hoʊl /

adjective

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.

containing all the elements properly belonging; complete: We have a whole set of antique china.

undivided; in one piece: to swallow a thing whole.

Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.

not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact: Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.

uninjured or unharmed; sound: He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.

pertaining to all aspects of human nature, especially one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development: education for the whole person.

noun

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.

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

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

QUIZZES

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Even if you’re a habitué of Word of the Day, you haven’t seen our March words in these ways! Challenge yourself to our comprehensive quiz!

Question 1 of 15

What does "habitué" mean?

a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.

a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

a lazy person who stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.

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Idioms for whole

as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether: As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.

on/upon the whole,

in view of all the circumstances; after consideration.
disregarding exceptions; in general: On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.

out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious: a story made out of whole cloth.

Origin of whole

before 900; Middle English hole, hool (adj. and noun), Old English hāl (adj.); cognate with Dutch heel, German heil, Old Norse heill; see hale¹, heal; spelling with w reflects dial. form

SYNONYMS FOR whole

1 undiminished, integral, complete.

5 unimpaired, perfect.

8 totality, aggregate. 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.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR whole ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR whole

1 partial.

8 part.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR whole ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM whole

whole·ness, nounself-whole, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH whole

hole whole (see synonym study at hole) (see synonym study at the current entry)

Words nearby whole

whoa, whodunit, whodunnit, whoe'er, whoever, whole, whole ball of wax, the, whole blood, whole brother, whole gale, whole hog

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for wholeness

It is against their wholeness that the incomplete impressions of the recent past or present are juxtaposed.
Resurrecting Afghanistan: Khaled Hosseini’s ‘And the Mountains Echoed’|Rafia Zakaria|May 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What has been grossly overlooked throughout age immemorial is that both aspects need each other for wholeness!
Alanis Morissette On Why America Must Embrace the Feminine|Alanis Morissette|November 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“Where there is no desire or pursuit, there is no wholeness, but there are satisfactory lesser states, fragments,” Vidal wrote.
Gore Vidal’s Great Love, Baseball Prodigy James Trimble|Michael Daly|August 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
However, the Camel, with a due regard to the wholeness of his skin, steadily made way towards our hut.
Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 1857-59|William Forbes-Mitchell

Our activities of production and enjoyment of wealth attain that spirit of wholeness when they are blended with a creative ideal.
Creative Unity|Rabindranath Tagore
For upon the retention of these ancient realities future human sanity and wholeness may well depend.
The Nation's River|United States Department of the Interior
In direct praxis, the wholeness of the being is externalized.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
It is the state wherein we know our wholeness and the complicate, manifold nature of our being.
Fantasia of the Unconscious|D. H. Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for wholeness

whole

/ (həʊl) /

adjective

containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; completea whole apple

constituting the full quantity, extent, etc

uninjured or undamaged

healthy

having no fractional or decimal part; integrala whole number

of, relating to, or designating a relationship established by descent from the same parents; fullwhole brothers

out of whole cloth US and Canadian informal entirely without a factual basis

adverb

in an undivided or unbroken pieceto swallow a plum whole

noun

all the parts, elements, etc, of a thing

an assemblage of parts viewed together as a unit

a thing complete in itself

as a whole considered altogether; completely

on the whole

taking all things into consideration
in general

Derived forms of whole

wholeness, noun

Word Origin for whole

Old English hāl, hǣl; related to Old Frisian hāl, hēl, Old High German heil, Gothic hails; compare hale 1

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

Medical definitions for wholeness

whole

[ hōl ]

adj.

Not wounded, injured, or impaired; sound or unhurt.

Having been restored; healed.

n.

An entity or system made up of interrelated parts.

Idioms and Phrases with wholeness

whole

In addition to the idioms beginning with whole

whole ball of wax, the
whole hog
whole kit and caboodle, the
whole megillah
whole new ballgame, a
whole nine yards, the
whole shebang

also see:

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

whole

adjective

noun

QUIZZES

Idioms for whole

Origin of whole

SYNONYMS FOR whole

ANTONYMS FOR whole

OTHER WORDS FROM whole

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH whole

Words nearby whole

Words related to wholeness

Example sentences from the Web for wholeness

British Dictionary definitions for wholeness

adjective

adverb

noun

Derived forms of whole

Word Origin for whole

Medical definitions for wholeness

adj.

n.

Idioms and Phrases with wholeness