whole
/houl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Complete; including all parts or elements: Refers to something that is not divided, lacking, or broken; the full amount or extent.
- Not injured or damaged; in sound condition: Describes a state of being undamaged, healthy, or intact.
- Undivided; acting as a single unit: Used to describe a group or collection functioning or considered together as one.
Adverb:
- Completely; entirely: Used informally to emphasize the totality or completeness of an action or state.
Noun:
- A thing that is complete in itself: Refers to an assemblage of parts regarded as a single entity.
- All of something; the full amount, extent, or duration: Refers to the entirety of a thing, including all its components.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- She spent her whole life studying art. (She spent her entire, complete life studying art.)
- After the accident, we were relieved to find the vase was still whole. (The vase was not broken or damaged.)
- The community acted as a whole to support the family. (The community acted together as a single, undivided group.)
Adverb (informal):
- That is a whole different problem. (That is a completely or entirely different problem.)
Noun:
- A good leader considers the whole, not just the parts. (A good leader considers the complete system or entity.)
- He ate the whole of the cake by himself. (He ate all of the cake, every part of it.)
Advanced Usage
"the whole of": Used before a noun to emphasize the entirety of something.
- The storm affected the whole of the coastline. (The entire coastline was affected.)
"as a whole": Considered in its entirety; generally.
- We must evaluate the project as a whole. (We must evaluate the complete, overall project.)
"on the whole": Considering everything; in general.
- On the whole, the conference was a success. (Generally speaking, the conference was successful.)
Variants and Related Words
Wholly (adv): Completely; entirely. (Formal equivalent of the adverbial use of 'whole').
- I wholly agree with your assessment.
Wholeness (n): The state of being unbroken or undamaged; completeness.
- The therapy aimed to restore a sense of wholeness.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Entire, complete, total, intact, undivided, full.
- Noun: Totality, entirety, sum, aggregate, unit.
Antonyms
- Adjective/Noun: Partial, incomplete, part, fraction, piece.
Related Idioms
Go the whole hog: To do something completely or thoroughly.
- If we're renovating the kitchen, we might as well go the whole hog and replace the appliances too.
(Out) in one piece / with a whole skin: Safe and unharmed, especially after danger.
- It was a risky climb, but everyone came back in one piece.
The whole nine yards: Everything possible or available; the full extent.
- For the wedding, they did the whole nine yards—a huge cake, a band, and hundreds of guests.
Adjective
- acting together as a single undiversified whole
- a solid voting bloc
- exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
- hale and hearty
- whole in mind and body
- a whole person again
- not injured
- (of siblings) having the same parents
- whole brothers and sisters
- including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
- gave his whole attention
- a whole wardrobe for the tropics
- the whole hog
- a whole week
- the baby cried the whole trip home
- a whole loaf of bread
Adverb
- to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
- he was wholly convinced
- entirely satisfied with the meal
- it was completely different from what we expected
- was completely at fault
- a totally new situation
- the directions were all wrong
- it was not altogether her fault
- an altogether new approach
- a whole new idea
Noun
- an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity
- how big is that part compared to the whole?
- the team is a unit
- all of something including all its component elements or parts
- Europe considered as a whole
- the whole of American literature