Whole | Mean of whole in English Dictionary

/ˈhoʊl/

• complete or full
1. The whole [=entire] family went on the trip.
2. The doctor assured me that the whole procedure would only take a few minutes.
3. The whole place was remodeled. It looks great now.
4. He was out sick for the whole [=entire] week.
5. It's been a whole week since I've seen him.
6. I spent the whole summer traveling through Europe.
7. The whole evening was a great success.
8. She read the whole book in one day.
9. I've been waiting my whole life for this.
10. I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole wide world [=in the world] that day.
11. They failed to tell us the whole story. [=they failed to tell us everything; they only told us certain things]
12. It rained the whole time I was there. [=it rained continuously while I was there]
13. We decided to forget the whole thing.
• having all the parts
1. a whole egg
2. whole strawberries [=strawberries that are not sliced or cut up]
3. We cooked a whole chicken.
4. whole grains
5. The recipe calls for two whole cloves. [=cloves that haven't been ground]
• great or large in size, extent, etc.
1. The community center offers a whole range of programs.
2. The track team took part in a whole series of events. [=in a lot of events]
3. There's a whole set of criteria to consider.
4. She owns a whole collection of hats. [=she owns many different hats]
• Noun

• something that is full or complete
1. The whole of my day was spent on the phone. [=I spent the entire day on the phone]
2. the whole of creation [=all of creation]
3. He felt he was part of a greater whole. [=that he was a part of something much larger and greater than himself]
• as a complete unit
1. Language as a whole is constantly evolving.
2. The lecture was intended for the group as a whole. [=for everyone; not for just a few people]
3. The company as a whole [=overall] is doing well.
• to the full or entire extent
1. The contract can be voided in whole or in part [=the entire contract can be voided or a part of the contract can be voided] ten days before the purchase date.
• in general
1. On the whole, new parents reported that they were adapting very well to parenthood.
2. He did a great job on the whole.
• entirely or completely
1. He has a whole new way of looking at things now. [=he has a completely different attitude now]
• in one piece that has not been cut into parts
1. We cooked the chicken whole.
2. The frog swallowed the fly whole.