Search

comprising the full quant-ty, 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.
the whole -ssemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quant-ty, 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 -ssemblage of parts -ssociated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.
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 circ-mstances; after consideration.
disregarding exceptions; in general:
on the whole, the neighborhood is improving.

out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fict-tious:
a story made out of whole cloth.
adjective
containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; complete: a whole apple
const-tuting the full quant-ty, extent, etc
uninjured or undamaged
healthy
having no fractional or decimal part; integral: a whole number
of, relating to, or designating a relationship established by descent from the same parents; full: whole brothers
(us & canadian, informal) out of whole cloth, entirely without a factual basis
adverb
in an undivided or unbroken piece: to swallow a plum whole
noun
all the parts, elements, etc, of a thing
an -ssemblage 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

adj.

old english hal “entire, unhurt, healthy,” from proto-germanic -khailaz “undamaged” (cf. old saxon hel, old norse heill, old frisian hal, middle dutch hiel, dutch heel, old high german, german heil “salvation, welfare”), from pie -koilas (cf. old church slavonic celu “whole, complete;” see health). the spelling with wh- developed early 15c. the sense in whole number is from early 14c. for phrase whole hog, see hog.
n.

“entire body or company; the full amount,” late 14c., from whole (adj.).

whole (hōl)
adj.

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

having been restored; healed.

n.
an ent-ty or a system made up of interrelated parts.
all parts or aspects considered, altogether, as in i like the play as a whole, though the second act seemed somewhat slow. [ early 1800s ]
also see: on the 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