• (RP) IPA: /həʊl/, [həʊɫ], [hɒʊɫ]
• (America) IPA: /hoʊl/, [hoʊɫ]

whole (comparative wholer, superlative wholest)

1. Entire, undivided.

   I ate a whole fish.

   • 1661, John Fell (bishop), The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond ↗

     During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

   • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619 ↗, page 16 ↗:

     Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. […] He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.

   1. Used as an intensifier.

      I brought a whole lot of balloons for the party.   She ate a whole bunch of french fries.

      • 2016, Rae Carson, Like a River Glorious, HarperCollins (ISBN 9780062242969):

        There, a huge blue heron stands sentry like a statue, eye on the surface, waiting for his next meal to wriggle by. A lone grassy hill overlooks it all, well above the flood line, big enough to pitch a whole mess of tents [on].

      • 2011, Keith Maillard, Looking Good: Difficulty at the Beginning, Brindle and Glass (ISBN 9781897142783):

        I'm thinking, thanks a whole fuck of a lot, Robert. You could have laid that on me weeks ago.

2. Sound, uninjured, healthy.

   He is of whole mind, but the same cannot be said about his physical state.

   • 1939, Alfred Edward Housman, Additional Poems, X, lines 5-6

     Here, with one balm for many fevers found, / Whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound.

3. (of food) From which none of its constituents has been removed.

   whole wheat; whole milk

4. (mining) As yet unworked.

• (entire) total; see also Thesaurus:entire
• (healthy) hale, well; see also Thesaurus:healthy

• ground (as in ground seed) (1)

• French: entier, tout
• German: ganz, heil, gesamt
• Italian: intero
• Portuguese: inteiro
• Russian: це́лый
• Spanish: entero

• French: entier
• Portuguese: integral
• Russian: це́льный
• Spanish: integral

whole

1. (colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly.

   I ate a fish whole!

• See Thesaurus:completely

• German: ganz
• Portuguese: inteiro
• Russian: целико́м

whole (plural wholes)

1. Something complete, without any parts missing.

   This variety of fascinating details didn't fall together into an enjoyable, coherent whole.

2. An entirety.

• (entirety) entireness, totality; see also Thesaurus:entirety

• French: ensemble, totalité
• German: Ganze
• Italian: tutto
• Portuguese: todo
• Russian: це́лое
• Spanish: totalidad