# whole

/ˈhoʊɫ/ (US) · /hˈəʊl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/whole
Updated: 2026-05-02

## Senses

### 1. entire or complete

adjective · CEFR A2

including every part of something; all of it.

For teachers: constituting the full amount, extent, or duration of something without exception.

- I was so hungry that I ate the whole pizza by myself.
- The whole department was required to attend the safety briefing after the recent incident in the laboratory.

Usage: Usually placed after a determiner like 'the', 'my', or 'this'.

### 2. not broken or divided

adjective · CEFR B1

in one piece and not broken or cut into parts.

For teachers: undivided and in a single piece; not fragmented or processed into smaller units.

- The recipe says to add the whole cloves of garlic to the pan.
- Archaeologists were surprised to find several whole jars among the ruins, as most pottery from that era is found in shards.

### 3. a complete thing

noun · CEFR B2

a complete thing made of many parts.

For teachers: a thing that is complete in itself; an entity formed by combining various parts.

- The different departments must work together to benefit the company as a whole.
- While each chapter is interesting on its own, the book must be judged as a whole to appreciate the author's message.

### 4. entirely

adverb · CEFR B2 · Informal

completely or totally.

For teachers: used as an intensifier to mean entirely or wholly.

- That is a whole different problem that we need to discuss later.
- The project turned out to be a whole lot more expensive than the original estimates suggested.

Teaching tip: In formal writing, 'entirely' or 'completely' is usually preferred over this adverbial use of 'whole'.

## Examples

- I ate the whole of the cake.
- The committee needs to look at the project as a whole rather than focusing on small mistakes.
- While individual departments performed well, the company as a whole struggled to adapt to the sudden shift in market demand during the final quarter.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.