Forms: α. 1 hal, 3– hale, etc.; see HALE a. β. 3–5 hol, (3 hoal, 4 ol, hoel), 4–6 holl, hool(e, 4–5 hole, 5–6 holle, hooll(e, hoyll(e, wholle, (5 oull), 6 (w)hoale, (houll, woll(e), Sc. hoill, 6–7 whol, wholl, (7 Sc. quholl), 6– whole. [OE. hál (also ʓehál YHOLE) = (O)Fris., OS. hêl (MDu. heel, usually gheheel, Du. heel, geheel, MLG., LG. heel), OHG. (MHG., G.) heil (MHG. geheil), ON. heill HAIL a. (Sw. hel, Da. heel):—OTeut. *(ga)χailaz:—Indo-Eur. *qoilos. From the same stem are also OSl. cĕlъ, cĕlostъ complete, whole, OPruss. kailūstiska-n acc. health (f. *kailūstas), Gr. κοῖλυ᾽ τὸ καλόν (Hesychius), OS. hêl omen, OHG. (MHG., G.) heil health, (good or bad) fortune, ON. heill neut. omen, fem. good luck, happiness, Goth. hails health (also gahails). The gradation-variant *qeilo- is represented by OIr. cēl omen.
On the spelling whole (the wh first appears in the 15th cent.) see the article WH. Pronunciations with initial (w) exist in modern dialects over an area extending from Somerset to north-east Yorkshire. For the northern form corresp. to midland and southern hōl, whole, see HALE a. For derivatives with mutated vowel see HAIL sb.2, HEAL sb., HEAL v.1
The Germanic adj. has the meanings (not all represented in every dialect) of ‘uninjured, sound, healthy, entire, complete’; the sense ‘healthy’ gave rise to its use in several languages in salutations, e.g., Goth. hails = χαῖρε, OS. hêl wes, OE. hál wes þú, ON. ver heill, sit heill: see WASSAIL and HAIL int.]
A. adj. I. In good condition, sound. In senses 1–4 often in collocation with sound (OE. hál ond ʓesund, ME. hol and sound, also hol and fer, hail and hol).
1. Of a man or an animal, the body, limbs, skin: Uninjured, unwounded, unhurt; (contextually) recovered from injury or a wound; † (of a wound) healed. † To lick whole: see LICK v. 1 e. arch.
Beowulf, 1974. Þæt ðær on worðiʓ wiʓendra hleo … cwom heaðolaces hal to hofe gongan.
971. Blickl. Hom., 177. Hie þa hine on rode ahengan … & he … hine halne & ʓesundne ðy ðriddan dæʓe æteowde.
a. 1000. Daniel, 271. Hyssas hale hwurfon in þam hatan ofne.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 29. Ane wunde on his licome þet ne mei beon longe hwile hal.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2812. In hise bosum he dede his hond, Quit and al unfer he it fond; And sone he dede it eft agen, Al hol and fer he wiste it sen.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., 33/131. His heued ȝut and is finguer al-so boþe huy beoth hole and sounde.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xxxvii. 102. Nou thou art sekest, ant nou holest.
1357. Lay Folks Catech. (L.), 449. Betyn with scorgys, þat no skyn held hool.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Friar’s T., 72. In this world nys dogge … That kan an hurt deer from an hool knowe.
1388. Wyclif, Job v. 13. He smytith, and hise hondis schulen make hool.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., XXIX. v. 67. Whon he a-wok, he groped his leg; He feled hit hol and sount.
1452. Paston Lett., I. 239. Wheche wownde was never hol to the daye of her deth.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccii. 98/2. Sir Eustace Dambreticourt … was as thanne hole of his hurtes.
1530. Palsgr., 836/2. Hole and safe, sayn et sauf.
c. 1550–1712. [see LICK v. 1 e].
1581. J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 131. When the wounde is whoale, what neede any playster or further surgery?
1581. W. Stafford, Exam. Compl., iii. (1876), 91. Wee shoulde lycke our selues hoale againe in short space.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. v. 43. As his wound did gather, and grow hole.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 11. He was thrust in the mouth with a Speare, and ’tis not whole yet.
1599. Porter, Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.), 104. A man is not so soon whole as hurt.
1844. Gleig, Lt. Dragoon, xvi. One whole man … is enough to take care of a wounded one.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, VI. 194. She … Felt it [sc. the babe] sound and whole from head to foot.
1855. Browning, An Epistle, 86. The evil thing out-breaking all at once Left the man whole and sound of body indeed.
b. Phr. As whole as a fish (a trout).
[Cf. a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 4282. Bot ay as fresche & as fere as fisch quen he plays.]
a. 1425. Cursor M., 11884 (Trin.). A noble baþ we shul þe make; Bi þat þou com þerof oute Þou shal be hool as any troute [Cott. hale sum ani trute].
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 265. Anon þe lepur fel from hym and he was hole as a fysche.
1518. [see TROUT sb.1 1].
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. v. 20. They are both as whole as a fish.
1700. T. Brown, trans. Fresny’s Amusem., 120. In four and twenty Hours he made ’em as whole as Fishes.
c. In allusive phrases whole skin (whole limbs), esp. in a whole skin = uninjured.
1547. Boorde, Introd. Knowl., xviii. (1870), 169. The people … loue no warre, but louyth to rest in a hole skin.
1555, etc. [see SKIN sb. 5 c].
1598. Shaks., Merry W., III. i. 79. Let them keepe their limbs whole, and hack our English. Ibid., 111. Your hearts are mighty, your skinnes are whole.
1648. Bp. Hall, Breathings Devout Soul, xxvii. 41. A third with Lazarus wants bread, and a whole skin.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1768), V. 260. Honest Hickman may now sleep in a whole skin.
1841. Thackeray, Gt. Hoggarty Diam., xiii. If he wants to keep his place and his whole skin.
1877. Spurgeon, Metrop. Tab. Pulpit, XXIII. 563. Others think the Gospel is true: Erasmus feels sure that it is, but Erasmus wants to die in a whole skin.
2. Of inanimate objects: Free from damage or defect; uninjured, unimpaired, unbroken, untainted, intact. (Cf. 6, 8.)
[c. 1000: see YHOLE.]
c. 1250. Compassio Mariæ, 37. So gleam glidis þurt þe glas, Of þi bodi born he was, And þurt þe hoale þurch he gload.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2776. Ðo saȝ moyses, at munt synay,… Fier brennen on ðe grene leaf, And ðoȝ grene and hol bi-leaf.
a. 1300. Floriz & Bl., 364. Ber wiþ þe forti pund And þine cupe hol and sund.
13[?]. K. Alis., 7389 (Laud MS.). Her armes riche of mounde Weren ȝitt hole & sounde.
c. 1305. St. Swithin, 66, in E. E. P. (1862), 45. Seint swythin … blessede þe eiren to-broke and hi bicome hole anon And sound as hi euere were.
1340. Ayenb., 205. A roted eppel amang þe holen makeþ rotie þe yzounde.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 1. I Haue but one hool hatere.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 3368. When he was take vp of þe vrthe, he was as wholle And as freysshe as he was ony tyme þat day byfore.
c. 1450. Merlin, 117. Yet hadde he his spere hoill.
1476. Stonor Papers (Camden), II. 4. I haue ressayved your wollys as ffayer and as hole as any mannys.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. ii. 37. Pistoll … hath a killing Tongue, and a quiet Sword; by the meanes whereof, a breakes Words, and keepes whole Weapons.
1611. trans. Serlio’s Archit., III. 27 b. Traians Columne is the wholest.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., II. xix. 121. His corslet wholler then his clothes.
1674. R. Godfrey, Inj. & Ab. Physic, 205. This is worse than what Tinkers do, to make a Hole in a whole Vessel.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 1646. Clad … in blew cloth, very whole and warme.
1718. Rae, Hist. Reb., 287. Bringing … the whole Boats they found in their Way.
1829. Chapters Phys. Sci., 185. When the pipe is quite whole and sound.
1839. De la Beche, Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. xiii. 405. Whole ground, as the tin-streamers term the stanniferous gravel and superincumbent beds which have not been previously disturbed by the old men.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1871), II. 9. She is just as whole as when she left the hands of the sculptor.
† b. Of immaterial things: Intact, unimpaired.
c. 1450. Brut, II. 327. It was ordeyned in þe parlement þat all Cathedrall cherches shold ioy and haue her eleccions hool; & þat þe King … sholde not write aȝens hem þat were ychosen.
a. 1500. in Arnolde’s Chron. (1811), 35. That the citezens … haue alle her fraunchyses and free custumes holl and vnblemyshed as they before this tyme hadden hem.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel., Prol. (1535), A j. There is nothynge so entier, but it diminisheth, nor nothyng so hole, but that is wery.
3. In good health; free from disease; healthy, ‘well’; (contextually) restored to health, recovered from disease, ‘well again.’ arch.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., x. Ðu eart nu ʓit swiðe ʓesæliʓ, nu ðu ʓit liofost & eart hal.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 114, in O. E. Hom., I. 167. Wa se seið þet he bo hal, him solf wat best his smirte.
c. 1290. St. Barnabas, 61, in S. Eng. Leg., 28. He bi-cam anon hol and sound.
c. 1305. Pilate, 142, in E. E. P. (1862), 115. Anon þo he þe ymage iseȝ he was ol anon.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1097. A stoon … so … vertuous, That hole a man it koude make Of palasie and tothe ake.
c. 1450. Merlin, 52. To axe … yef this seke shall euer be hoill of this sekenesse.
1526. Tindale, Mark v. 34. Thy fayth hath saved the [1611 made thee whole], goo in peace, and be whole off thy plage.
1530–1. Act 22 Hen. VIII., c. 12 § 3. Yf any person … beyng hole & myghtie in body & able to laboure … be taken in beggyng.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel., xxix. (1535), 49. I repute it a very perillous thinge for a hole man to reste and be idell.
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., XVI. ix. (1886), 485. Endued with a cleare, whole, subtill and sweet bloud.
1629. Orkney Witch Trial, in County Folk Lore, III. (1903), 103. Quha being quholl then deit within thrie dayes be your witchcraft.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 162. We are all whole and sound People here, and we would not have you bring the Plague among us.
1812. Cary, Dante, Parad., IV. 49. Him who made Tobias whole.
absol. c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. ix. 12. Nys halum læces nan þearf ac seocum.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg. (B. M. MS.), 69. Seke and hole sche dide gode.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 20119 (Trin.). To hoole & seke dud she bote.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Ordering of Priests. As well to the sicke as to the whole.
1676. Glanvill, Ess. Philos. & Relig., VII. 1. We had all things, both for our Whole and Sick, that belonged to Charity and Mercy.
† b. OE. and early ME. hāl in salutations.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 252. Sy ðu hal, leof, Iudeiscre leode cyning.
c. 1205. Lay., 14936. Hal wrð þu lauerd king.
[1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., IV. 12 b. Thei cried with a lustie courage, All whole noble mates all whole.]
c. fig. in biblical translation or reminiscence of biblical uses.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), lxi[i]. 8. Doð eowre heortan … hale and clæne.
1382. Wyclif, Jer. xxxviii. 2. His lif shal ben hoel and lyuynge.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 149. Hole in body, holer in soule, and rycher in goodes.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Sam. i. 9. My life is yet whole within me.
1738. Wesley, Ps. VI. ii. O Lord,… save my Soul, And for thy Mercy sake make whole.
1833. Tennyson, Miller’s Dau., ii. A soul … So healthy, sound, and clear and whole.
1866. Whittier, Our Master, xiv. We touch Him in life’s throng and press, And we are whole again.
† 4. In reference to the mental faculties: Sound, sane. Obs.
In the language of wills whole = L. sanus, as in sanus mente, sanæ mentis.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Mark v. 15. Hales modes.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 38. Þouȝ eche man … myȝtte lyue hool & sond in bodi & wittis.
1418. E. E. Wills (1882), 30. I, Iohn Chelmyswyk squier of Shropshire, hole of mynde & in my gode memorie beyng.
1483–4. Act 1 Rich. III., c. 1 § 1. Eny persone … beyng of … hoole mynde at large and not in duresse.
1506. Linc. Wills (1914), I. 32. Of a holle mynde and hoill memory.
1581. Pettie, trans. Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., I. (1586), 4. If I flatter not my selfe, I haue a whole minde within my crasie bodie.
† 5. As a rendering (direct or indirect) of L. sānus in the sense: Sound, wholesome. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 370. Ne nomen heo neuer ȝeme hwat was hol, hwat was unhol te eten ne to drincken.
1340. Ayenb., 251. Ase moche ase þe welle yuelþ lesse of þe erþe, zuo moche hi is þo holer and þe betere of to drinke.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 228. Ȝif ony man … accordiþ not to þe hoole wordis [1 Tim. vi. 3 sanis sermonibus] of oure lord ihū crist. Ibid., 408. He lediþ his sheep wel in hool pasture þat wole not rote.
a. 1400[?]. Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900), I. 1 3he schal … ȝhif trewe and hole counsell … to the Mair.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., I. 23. First biholde aboute, and se thyn aier; If hit be cleer and hool, stond out of fere.
1502. Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W., 1506), IV. iv. P iv b. After the moost hole opynyon [orig. selon la plus saine opinion].
II. Complete, total (and allied senses).
6. Having all its parts or elements; having no part or element wanting; having its complete or entire extent or magnitude; full, perfect.
Chiefly of abstract things; when used of material objects, this sense is coincident with 2.
[c. 890. Wærferth, trans. Gregory’s Dial., II. x. (1890), 124/14. Þære kicenan ʓetimbrung stod ʓehal & ʓesund.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen., Pref. Se tæʓl sceolde beon ʓebal … on ðam nytene æt ðære offrungæ.
c. 1315. Shoreham, I. 720. Þer he hys, he hys al yhol.]
13[?]. Bonaventura’s Medit., 182. A derwurþ ȝyfte he wulde with þe lete, Hym self al hole vn to þy mete.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sec. Nun’s T., 111. The cleernesse hool of sapience.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 6. With hol trust and with hol believe.
c. 1400. Maundev., xxvi. [xxii.] (1919), I. 158. The nombre schall eueremore ben hool.
1457. Harding, Chron., in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1912), Oct., 748. His vertuse dygne so hole were and plenere.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 227 b. He permitteth … the whole supper of the Lorde [i.e., in both kinds].
1581. Pettie, trans. Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., III. (1586), 143 b. Seeing these women will not be the whole mothers of their children, they ought at least to be carefull to chuse good Nursses.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., IV. xiii. 126 b. A fair Turkie horse decked with the whole skinne of a great Lion.
1654. Gataker, Disc. Apol., 46. Either place required a whole man.
1701. Stanhope, Pious Breathings, IV. viii. (1704), 257. Thou art the Bread of Life, every day eaten, yet still whole and never consumed.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 103. At whole Allowance.
1812. L. Hunt, in Examiner, 9 Nov., 716/1. The pit was but moderately filled at whole price.
1818. Art Bk.-binding, 4. Quarto whole-sheets, consist of eight printed pages.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xlix. He … from half thief became whole robber.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., lxxi. 8. That so my pleasure may be whole.
1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 27 Nov., 5/2. There were four occasions on which the wind reached force 10, or what is known among sailors as a ‘whole’ gale.
† b. Of will, intention, affection: Full, complete, perfect. Obs.
c. 1369. Chaucer, Bk. Duchesse, 1224. With hool herte I gan hir beseche.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 2339. He that … Yaff hoole his herte in will and thought.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2195. With hardynes of hond, & with hole might.
c. 1430. Hymns Virgin (1867), 103. Y bileeue in hool mynde, Þe holi goost schalle knytte aȝen Þe soule to þe fleische.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Chron. xv. 15. They soughte him with a whole wyll. Ibid., Ps. cxviii[i]. 34. I shal kepe thy lawe, yee I shal kepe it with my whole herte.
c. Containing all its proper or essential constituents; of milk, unskimmed. See also whole meal in D. 1.
1794. T. Wedge, Agric. Chester, 37. The common practice of churning the ‘whole milk,’ instead of setting up the milk for the cream to rise, and churning it alone.
1894. Field, 9 June, 846/2. It is less trouble to churn whole milk than to churn cream.
d. Whole or part: attrib. use of in whole or in part (see B. 3 c). rare.
1880. Swinburne, Stud. Shaks., 292. The evidence for Shakespeare’s whole or part authorship.
7. The full or total amount of; all, all of (as distinguished from part of or some of). The prevailing current sense; only in attributive use, and now always preceding the sb.
Formerly pleonastically with all, entire, etc.: also following its sb.
(a) a, the, his, etc. whole with sing. sb.
[a. 900. O. E. Martyrol., 10 Jan., 16. Ond þa sona brohte him se hræfn ʓehalne hlaf.
c. 1325. Chron. Eng., 413, in Ritson, Metr. Rom., II. 287. Al Englond yhol.
1340. Ayenb., 126. Yef we yzeȝe þet we miȝte more ine one daye profiti þanne hi ne moȝe ine one yere y-hol.]
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 6. Seo wher he stondeþ!… and al his hole Meyne!
c. 1369. Chaucer, Bk. Duchesse, 554. To make yow hool I wol do alle my power hool.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 121. Ye knowen al min hole herte.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 6852. Menelay the mighty, & the mayn Telamon, So sturnly withstod with þaire strenkyth holl. Ibid., 13492. To hit into havyn with his hoole flete.
c. 1400. Maundev., xvi. (1919), I. 86. Þei fasten an hool moneth.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., Prol. 2. The clergie of Goddis hool chirche in erthe.
c. 1449. The hool al werk [see ALL A. 10].
1491–2. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904), 181. The clarkes wages for an oull yere iiij s iiij d.
1523. Wolsey, in St. Papers Hen. VIII., VI. 205. Either for the hoole wynter or at the lest for a season.
a. 1532. Rem. Love, xliii. Chaucer’s Wks. 368. Eche letter an hole worde dothe represent.
1553. (title) The true and lyuely historyke pvrtreatyres of the woll bible.
1556. Olde, Antichrist, 8. Al hole Germany … euery where cruelly vexed.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. liv. 114. To be the peace of the whole world.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 315. The roare Of a whole heard of Lyons. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., I. i. 12. All the whole time I was my Chambers Prisoner.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle, v. (1871), 66. The lease … For a whole hundred yeares is good in lawe.
1654. H. L’Estrange, Chas. I. (1655), 186. That Parliament from which the hole Kingdome expected a Reformation.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 353. An Oath, That shook Heav’ns whol circumference.
1678. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., iv. 73. Should workmen hold the Blade of the Paring Chissel in their whole hand.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 78, ¶ 8. Hippocrates, who visited me throughout my whole Illness.
1756. Toldervy, Hist. Two Orphans, I. 169. In all the whole enlightened system.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 225. The stout tall captain,… upon whom they fix Their whole attention.
1845. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 2. The whole … manner of looking at things alters with every age.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. (1858), II. 462. The whole Anglican priesthood, the whole Cavalier gentry, were against him.
c. 1850. Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.), 632. He related his whole adventure from beginning to end.
(b) with numeral, as the whole three († the three whole), two whole († whole two).
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 340. Ȝif vchon haue a godhede I graunte, bi him-selue, I seie þat on is also good as þe þreo hole.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 4631. Charlys þe Citee þo gan asayle, Two dawes hole.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist., 80. Lying whole six dayes vnburied.
1597. Beard, Theatre God’s Judgem., x. (1612), 41. A … pestilence, which lasted whole tenne yeares.
1611. Bible, Acts xxviii. 30. Paul dwelt two whole yeeres in his owne hired house.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., I. 32. The fourth Persecution … wherein the Church had no breathing for whole twenty yeares together.
1796. Eliza Hamilton, Lett. Hindoo Rajah (1811), II. 311. He … staid whole ten days.
1827. O. W. Roberts, Voy. Centr. Amer., 228. I brought the whole three to the ground at one sbot.
(c) with pl. sb. (the, my, etc. whole …): now chiefly Sc. (replaced ordinarily by the whole of the … or all the …); formerly also without article (now only as in c).
1516. in Leadam, Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.), II. 115. Theseid decrees … shalbe … obserued … by the hole Burgesses and inhabitauntes of the same Towne.
1521. Ld. T. Dacre, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. II. I. 279. Not doubting … but ye shalbe … recompensed of your hool dueties with th’arreragies.
1596. Edw. III., I. i. All the whole dominions of the realm.
1650. Earl Monm., trans. Senault’s Man bec. Guilty, 89. There be whole intire Nations which approve of Incest.
1680. in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. (1911), XLV. 233. All the whole ministers are content to be ordered by the enemies of Christ.
1764. Goldsm., Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772), II. 203. The French … having reduced almost the whole Netherlands to their obedience.
1798. Monthly Mag., Dec., 436. My whole friends are against me; all my friends.
1808. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), IV. 112. We shall get our whole sea-ports put into that state of defence.
1831. Carlyle, Sartor Res., i. 2. His whole other tissues are included.
1895. Times (weekly ed.), 26 April, 324/1. A third of the whole inhabitants of India.
† (d) with sing. sb., without article: All, the whole of. Obs.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Esdras viii. 7. He taught whole Israel all righteousnes & iudgment.
1551. T. Wilson, Logic (1552), 165 b. As though whole religion stoude in these pointes onely.
1591. Savile, Tacitus, Agricola, 242. The figure … of whole Britannie, by Liuy…, is likened to a long dish or two edged axe.
1657. W. Rand, trans. Gassendi’s Life Peiresc, Ep. Ded. Not only whole Europe, but Asia also had their Eyes fixed upon this Province.
1826. Southey, Vind. Eccl. Angl., x. 455, note. All creatures stand astonished, whole Nature is amazed.
† b. In phr. whole and some (cf. ‘all and some,’ ALL A. 12 a), rarely full and whole, following a plural or collective noun or a plural pronoun: The whole number or amount, ‘the whole lot,’ all; in all, altogether. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Anel. & Arc., 26. For which the people blisfull hole and somme … crydon [etc.].
a. 1400[?]. Arthur, 424. And all þeire power hooll & soom.
c. 1430. Hymns Virgin (1867), 49. Alle to-gidere, boþe hool & some, To teer him from þe top to þe toon.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 243 b. He made all the people full and whole to gase on hym. Ibid., 281 b.
a. 1566. R. Edwards, Damon & Pithias (1571), F j b. Though I be not learned, yet cha mother witte enough whole & some.
c. With rhetorical emphasis, where there is implication of an unusually large quantity or number.
1628. Earle, Microcosm., Herald (Arb.), 71. He tels you of whole fields of gold and siluer, Or and Argent.
1664. Butler, Hud., II. III. 147. Sitting … Whole days and nights.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xii. III. 163. Whole towns … were left in ruins.
1911. G. E. Smith, Anc. Egyptians, i. 2. Whole shelves of libraries are filled with the records of this quest.
8. Not divided into parts or particles; not ground, broken up, or cut in pieces; undivided, entire. (Of various things, material and immaterial.)
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxiv. § 12. Hwæþer þu þonne ongite þæt ælc þara wuhta þe him beon þencð, þæt hit þencð ætgædere bion, ʓehal, untodæled? forðæm ʓif hit todæled bið, þonne ne bið hit no hal.
[c. 1000. [see YHOLE].
a. 1240. Sawles Warde, in O. E. Hom., I. 251. Iteilede draken grisliche ase deoflen þe forswolheð ham ihal.]
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VI. 78. He saw the brayis hye standand, The vattir holl throu slike rynand.
1382. Wyclif, Prov. i. 12. Swolewe wee hym … hol as the descendende in to the lake.
c. 1430. Two Cookery-bks., 9. Take þe pertryche, an stuffe hym wyth hole pepir.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, V. ix. Pulle the skynne fro the body … & kepe it hoole.
1513. Bk. Keruynge, in Babees Bk., 279. The goos & swanne may be cut as ye do other fowles yt haue hole fete.
1530. Palsgr., 833. By retayle, as men sell wares that they sell nat hole [i.e., wholesale: cf. B. 3 b] or by great.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel., let. iii. (1535), 105 b. We ete dyuers thynges by morsels which if we shulde eate hole, wolde choke vs.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lvi. 126. A deede must either not be imputed … or … they which haue it by imputation must haue it such as it is whole.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 14. The walles being all of whole trees as they come out of the wood.
1648. Bp. Hall, Rem. Wks. (1660), 198. For the paschal Lamb it must be set on all whole.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., ii. 32. Which will neither way be so strong as the Worm cut out of the whole Iron.
1709. T. Robinson, Vind. Mos. Syst., 32. Moses … makes Fish and Fowl Congenial … From their manner of feeding, being both Swollowers hole.
a. 1756. Eliza Haywood, New Present (1771), 197. One pint of whole oatmeal.
1806. A. Hunter, Culina (ed. 3), 215. To stew a Duck. To a pint of strong gravy, put two small onions sliced, a little whole pepper, [etc.].
1842. Loudon, Suburban Hort., 687. In the manner of gooseberries and apples … baked whole in a dish.
1859. Tennyson, Marr. Geraint, 318. Here had fall’n a great part of a tower Whole, like a crag that tumbles from the cliff.
† b. Undivided in allegiance or devotion; loyal, faithful, steadfast. (Cf. whole-hearted, -souled, in D. 2 d.) Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 594. Þerc he fyndez al fayre a freke wyth-inne Þat hert honest & hol.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 1001. I … shal … Ben to yow trewe and hol with al myn herte.
1451. Paston Lett., I. 208. The Sheriff is noght so hole as he was, for now he wille shewe but a part of his frendeshippe.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxvii[i]. 37. Their herte was not whole [1611 right] with him, nether continued they in his couenaunt.
1553. Bradford, in Coverdale, Godly Lett. (1564), 344. Gods deare chyldren, whose hartes are whole wyth the Lorde.
† c. Not divided in opinion; united, unanimous.
1451. Paston Lett., I. 183. The Kyng, by the hole advyse of all the greet Councell of Ingland,… send hider his said Commission.
1540–1. Elyot, Image Gov., iii 3 b. By the hole consent of the Senate and people.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 185. To whome they, with a whole voyce, aunswered nay nay.
d. Math. Of a number: Denoting a complete and undivided thing, or a set of such things (not a part of a thing); integral, not fractional.
† In first quot., Composed of three prime factors: = SOLID a. 2 b (obs.).
c. 1430. Art of Nombryng, ix. (1922), 46. Of nombres one is lyneal, anoþer superficialle, anoþer quadrat, anoþer cubike or hoole.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., A ij. Some are whole nombers…. Other are broken nombers, and are commonly called fractions.
1608. R. Norton, Stevin’s Disme, A 3 b. A Whole number is either a vnitie, or a compounded multitude of vnities.
1842. Gwilt, Archit., 229. A product … is generated by the multiplication of two or more numbers…. All whole numbers cannot result from such a multiplication.
e. Coal-mining. Applied to a portion of a coal seam that has not yet been worked, or is in the earlier stage of working: see quots.
1860. Engl. & For. Mining Gloss. (ed. 2), 67. Whole, where the coal has not been previously worked.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Whole or Whole Mine (N[orth of England]), that portion of a coal seam being worked by driving headings into it only, or the state of the mine before bringing back the pillars, or what is called working the broken, commences…. Whole Stalls (S[outh] W[ales]), two or more stalls having their faces in line or on a thread with one another.
9. Constituting the total amount, without admixture of anything different; full, unmixed, pure. In various connections: often opposed to half. a. Whole blood: see BLOOD sb. 9. So whole brother or sister, a brother or sister of the whole blood, i.e., a son or daughter of both the same parents (as distinguished from a HALF-BROTHER or HALF-SISTER).
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 375. Ac alle þat beth myne hole bretheren in blode & in baptesme.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 711. Twey sones he had … Edwyge and Edgar, his hole brother.
1444. Rolls of Parlt., V. 104/2. No maner Walssh man of hole blode, ne half blode on the fader side.
1544. trans. Littleton’s Tenures, 1. Hys next cosyn collaterall of the hole blode.
1697, 1810. [see BLOOD sb. 9].
1826. J. F. Cooper, Last of Mohicans, viii. As for me, who am of the whole blood of the whites.
† b. Said of a person who has the whole of some possession, charge, or function, not sharing it with any one else: = SOLE a. 5 b. Obs.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 3281. Knoude was made hole kyng of alle Englonde.
1455. Rolls of Parlt., V. 312/2. Hole heire in the taylle to the said Thomas.
1530. Rastell, Bk. Purgat., I. xv. One hye hole ordener of al thyngs.
1540. Barnes, in Foxe, A. & M. (1583), 1199/2. His grace is made a whole kyng, and obeyed in his Realme as a kyng.
1628. in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1918), Jan., 35. My … Nephew Thomas … whom I make my whole and onelie Executor.
c. Bookbinding. Forming the whole of the cover: opp. to HALF- II. j.
1839. J. R. Smith’s Catal. Second-hand Bks., Dec., 8/1. Whole calf.
1879. in Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 87. The whole-binding … means that the whole of the cover of the book is covered with the same leather.
d. Whole holiday: a day the whole of which is observed as a holiday (opp. to HALF-HOLIDAY 2 c).
1839. Ld. Houghton, Barren Hill, iii. Poet. Wks. 1876, II. 109. Whole-holidays of joy.
1895. K. Grahame, Golden Age, 8. With us it was a whole holiday; the occasion a birthday.
e. Of a team of horses: All of the same color, ‘whole-colored.’
1892. Daily News, 31 May, 6/1. Sir John, who used always to have a whole team, has now got one brown horse as wheeler.
B. sb. 1. The full, complete or total amount; the assemblage of all the parts, elements or individuals (of). With def. art. (rarely with possessive); the whole of = all.
† In early use occas. (as in A. 7) qualified by all.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. i. (Bodl. MS.). A tree … haþ no meuynge of hit silfe, noþer al þe hole noþer parties þereof.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 201. Ȝyf þou ȝyue counseyl to takyn … wrongfully oþeres good,… & be þi counseyl þat wrong is don in-dede, þou art bounde to restore þe hole.
1582. N. T. (Rhem.), Matt. xiii. 33. Leauen, which a woman tooke and hid in three measures of meale, vntil the whole was leauened.
a. 1586. Satir. Poems Reform., xxxv. 9. Quhy sould the hoill, for thair desert, That faine wald haue that fact withstand,… beir the blame?
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1159. They that loose halfe with greater patience beare it, Then they whose whole is swallowed in confusion. Ibid. (c. 1600), Sonn., cxxxiv. 14. He paies the whole, and yet am I not free.
1615. E. S., Brit. Buss, in Arber, Engl. Garner, III. 636. The very First Year’s herrings only, may bring in to the Adventurer or Owner; all his whole both of Stock and Charges of £934 5s. 8d. aforesaid.
1709–29. V. Mandey, Syst. Math., Arith., 6. A number that measures the whole, and that which is taken away, will also measure the remainder.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xxviii[i]. The good of the whole, says Rasselas, is the same with the good of all its parts.
1823. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), I. 273. In the whole of my ride, I have not seen much finer fields of wheat.
1840. Thackeray, Barber Cox, March. The whole of the gentlemen of the hunt.
1853. Soyer, Pantroph., 185. Thicken with flour, and pour the whole on the deer when roasted.
1889. H. W. Picton, Story of Chem., 296. We now define a salt as an acid having the whole or part of its hydrogen replaced by a metal.
b. U.S. The Whole = the Whole House (see COMMITTEE 3).
1840. Congressional Globe, 5 May, 364/2. The House then resolved itself into Committee of the Whole.
c. In a charade, my whole denotes the complete word of which the syllables, called my first and my second, are the parts.
c. 1789. Encycl. Brit. (1797), IV. 341/1. My first is equally friendly to the thief and the lover…. My second is light’s opposite…. My whole is tempting to the touch, grateful to the sight, fatal to the taste. Night-shade.
1836. Penny Cycl., VI. 489/1. My first makes use of my second to eat my whole [French chiendent].
1844. G. S. Faber, Eight Dissert. (1845), II. 262. If in the process, the actual Dissyllable itself, in that species of amusement technically called my whole, should evaporate into thin air.
2. Something made up of parts in combination or mutual connection; an assemblage of things united so as to constitute one greater thing; a complex unity or system. Usually with indef. art.; also in pl.
1697. trans. Burgersdicius’ Logic, I. xiv. 43. A Whole is that which consists in the Union of any things, or Parts.
1725. Watts, Logic, I. vi. § 7. All Parts have a Reference to some Whole.
1732. Pope, Ess. Man, I. 267. All are but parts of one stupendous whole.
1791. W. Gilpin, Forest Scenery, II. 62. All together the view is picturesque. It is what the painter properly calls a whole. There is a fore-ground, a middle-ground and distance—all harmoniously united.
1821. Shelley, Hellas, 776. This Whole Of suns, and worlds, and men, and beasts, and flowers,… Is but a vision.
1833. Tennyson, Pal. of Art, 58. Full of great rooms and small…, All various, each a perfect whole.
1860. J. Brown, Horæ Subs., Ser. II. (1861), 229. A child begins by seeing bits of everything;… it makes up its wholes out of its own littles.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., i. 1. The complex whole which we call Civilization.
3. Phrases in senses 1 and 2. a. As a whole (sense 2): as a complete thing (not in separate parts); as a unity; in its entirety, all together. So, in reference to a pl. sb., as wholes.
1828. Carlyle, Misc., Goethe (1857), I. 192. The beauty of the Poem as a Whole.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xix. I must sustain his administration as a whole, even if there are, now and then, things that are exceptional.
1865. Lecky, Ration. (1878), II. vi. 210. How readily nations, considered as wholes, always yield to the spirit of the time.
1912. Engl. Hist. Rev., Oct., 697. A close division in the committee might be reversed on appeal to the cabinet as a whole.
† b. By the whole: = WHOLESALE 1. Obs.
1592. Greene, Upst. Courtier, E iv b. If the Currier bought not Lether by the whole of the Tanner, the shomaker might haue it at a more reasonable price.
c. In (the) whole. (a) To the full amount, in full, entirely, completely, wholly. (Usually, now always, without the: opp. to in part.)
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 202. Þou art bounde to restore þat thefte in þe hole.
1553. Bradford, Serm. Repentance (1574), C v. They … which … wil prate, our merites or workes to satisfy for our syns in part or in whole.
1802–12. Bentham, Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827), II. 118. They may have been spurious in the whole, or incorrect in every part.
1826. Southey, Lett. to H. Taylor, 31 Aug., in Life (1850), V. 266. Collecting my stray letters, and selecting such, in whole or in part, as may not unfitly be published.
1855. Neil, Boyd’s Zion’s Flowers, Introd. 8. This Work ought to be printed in whole.
1913. Act 3 & 4 Geo. V., c. 20 § 123. Any creditors whose claim he has rejected in whole or in part.
(b) In total amount, all together, all told, in all. (Almost always with the.) Now rare.
1551. Sir J. Williams, Accompte (Abbotsf. Club, 1836), 24. White plate, of course broken siluer…, ccc oz. amountinge in thole.
1552–3. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 108. Mowldes for the feltmakers to mowlde hattes vpon at xvjd the pece in the hole ijs viijd.
1600. Southampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1906), II. 336. The expence of powder … wch charge in the wholle cannott amount vnto lese then … fyfty pownds yerely.
c. 1720. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 255. They were … twice our number in the whole.
1754. in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874), 48. Making up in whole … the sum of nine thousand merks.
1815. Coleridge, Lett. to Lady Beaumont, 3 April. Three poems, containing 500 lines in the whole.
1918. Act 8 & 9 Geo. V., c. 27 § 1. Any … sums not exceeding in the whole the sum of one million pounds.
d. On or upon the whole: on the basis of the affair as a whole; considering the whole of the facts or circumstances; all things considered; ‘taking it all together.’ Hence † (b) as the upshot, or summing up, of the whole matter; as a final result, ultimately, in conclusion, in fine, in sum; (c) in respect of the whole, notwithstanding exceptions in detail; in general, for the most part.
The construction with of (quot. 1771) is rare and obs.
1698. Collier, Immor. Stage, 126. Shakespear’s Sr. John has some Advantage in his Character…. But the Relapser’s business, is to sink the Notion, and Murther the Character, and make the Function, despicable: So that upon the whole, Shakespear is by much the gentiler Enemy.
1771. Goldsm., Hist. Eng., III. 392. Upon the whole of this treaty, it was considered as inglorious to the English.
1780. Cowper, Adjudged Case, 21. On the whole it appears … That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose.
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lx. Still, upon the whole, he is as well in his native mountains.
1887. Ruskin, Præterita, II. v. 179. [I] determined that the Alps were, on the whole, best seen from below.
(b) 1711. Steele, Spect., No. 4, ¶ 1. Upon the whole I resolved … to go on in my ordinary Way.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 328. We came up with them, and in a word, took them all in, being … sixty four Men, Women, and Children…. Upon the whole, we found it was a French Merchant Ship.
1768. Goldsm., Good-n. Man, Pref. Upon the whole, the author returns his thanks to the public for the favourable reception which ‘The Good-Natured Man’ has met with. Ibid. (a. 1774), Hist. Greece, II. 246. Upon the whole he was unanimously sentenced to die.
(c) 1797–1811. Jane Austen, Sense & Sensib., xlii. She liked him … upon the whole, much better than she had expected.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 327. The clergy were regarded as, on the whole, a plebeian class.
1878. Hutton, Scott, iii. 34. She made on the whole a very good wife.
1920. Times Lit. Suppl., 29 April, 266/2. We only have [in King John] the text of the first folio of 1623, but that upon the whole is admitted to be good.
4. Coal-mining. A seam or portion of coal not yet worked, or in the earlier stage of working: see A. 8 e.
1747. Hooson, Miner’s Dict., G 3. If the Wholes be too Soft, that we think it will let the Forks settle when they come to be weighted, we put a Sill under them.
1883. [see A. 8 e].
C. adv. Wholly, entirely, fully, perfectly. Obs. exc. in nonce-use in explicit or implied opposition to half (and, like that word, sometimes hyphened to the word it qualifies).
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 279. Now is Scotland hole at our kynges wille.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Anel. & Arc., 310. I myght als weele kepe Aueryll from Rayne As holde yow trewe and make yowe hoole stedfaste.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 136. Al the world in Orient Was hol at his comandement.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 2068. That ye haue me susprised so And hole myn herte taken me fro.
a. 1500. Chaucer’s Dreme, 5. With her mantle whole couert.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel., xiii. (1535), G ij b. I am hole ignorant of this yonge mans lyuynge.
1535. Coverdale, Jer. xlii. 15. Yf ye be whole purposed to go in to Egipte.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., I. viii. 8 b. Mayden slaues … being commonly whole naked.
a. 1586. Satir. Poems Reform., xxxv. 26. Mortounis race To covatice wes hoill Inclynde.
1656. Cowley, Mistr., Innoc. Ill, iii. The ills thou dost are whole thine own.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 608. War and the chase engross the savage whole.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xliv. Laying a half-dirty cloth upon a whole-dirty deal table.
1854. R. S. Surtees, Handley Cr., xxvii. The half-dressed groom would whole-dress the horse.
1905. F. T. Barton, Sporting Dogs, 204. A black-and-tan sire and dam produce a whole-red puppy.
† b. Pleonastically emphasized by all; occas. = In all, altogether. Obs.
This may often be construed as adj.: cf. A. 7.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 157. Ytaile al hol thei overcome.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 2363. I … comaunde thee That in oo place thou sette all hoole Thyn herte withoute halfen doole.
c. 1450. Merlin, 317. I putte me all hooll in youre ordenaunce.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, x. 33. Alle the peple hool fledde to fore hym. Ibid., lvi. 97. This bataylle endured wel an houre al hoole.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., VIII. (Percy Soc.), 31. As after this shall appere more openly, All hole exprest by dame Phylosophy.
† c. Qualifying a following adv., forming advb. phr. (in which whole may sometimes be construed as adj.), as whole out, throughout; whole together, all together (occas., altogether, entirely).
a. 1425. Cursor M., 13303 (Trin.). Twelue were þei to telle in dole Whenne þei were to gider hole.
c. 1430. Freemasonry (1840), 15. Alle the masonus … Wol stonde togedur hol y-fere.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Esdras vi. 28. Also, that they shal buylde the house of the Lorde whole vp.
1551. Turner, Herbal, I. Kj. Some call it wylde succory: but it is hole together smaller. Ibid. (1562), II. 50 b. The bark, pill, or shell of the Citron, is dry and hote in the thyrde degre hole out.
1677–8. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 595. The Commons were yesterday taken up … in hearing the cause … which not having … heard whole out, they orderd for to-morrow.
D. Special Collocations and Combinations.
1. The adj. qualifying a sb., forming phrases used in special senses: † whole cannon, † whole culverin, a cannon or culverin of the full size, as distinguished from a DEMI-CANNON or DEMI-CULVERIN (also fig. and attrib.); whole hog, in the slang phr. to go the whole hog (see HOG sb.1 11 b): hence nonce-derivatives, as whole-hogger, -hoggery, -hoggism, -hoggite; whole meal, meal or flour made from the whole grain of wheat, etc. (sometimes including the bran); also attrib.; whole-moulding Ship-building, name for an old method of forming the principal parts of a vessel, now used only for boats; cf. quot. c. 1850 s.v. whole-moulded in 2 d; whole note Mus., † (a) a whole tone or major second, as distinguished from a ‘half note’ or semitone; (b) a semibreve, as the longest note in ordinary use (now U.S.); whole plate Photogr., see PLATE sb. 5 c; also attrib.; whole shift, in violin-playing (see SHIFT sb. 15); whole silk [trans. med.L. (h)olosericum, ad. Gr. ὁλοσηρικός, f. ὅλος whole + σηρικός of silk], stuff consisting entirely of silk; whole-stitch Lace-making, a stitch in which the threads are woven together as in cloth. See also WHOLE CLOTH, WHOLESALE.
1666. Lond. Gaz., No. 65/2. Designing the building of twelve new Ships,… intending they shall carry a hundred Brass Guns a piece, and the lower Tyre *whole Cannon.
1723. E. Stone, trans. Bion’s Math. Instrum., V. iv. (1758), 147. Ordnance … an Eight-Pounder, a Demi-Culverin, a Twelve-Pounder, a Whole-Culverin, a Twenty-four-Pounder, a Demi-Cannon, Bastard-Cannon, and a Whole-Cannon.
1598. Marston, Sco. Villanie, I. iv. D 3. With *whole culuering raging othes to teare The vault of heauen.
1647. Ward, Simple Cobler (1843), 85. Ye talke one to another with whole Culvering and Canon.
1723. [see whole cannon].
1830–76. *Whole hog [see HOG sb.1 11 b].
1903. Daily Chron., 14 Oct., 4/4. The Chamberlainite party or *‘whole hoggers.’
1834. Southey, Doctor, Interch. xvi. The *Whole-hoggery in the House of Commons.
1906. Westm. Gaz., 23 Jan., 7/2. A Balfourite with leanings towards *‘whole-hoggism.’
1840. *Whole-hoggites [see HOG sb.1 11 b].
1620. Venner, Via Recta, i. 18. Bread is also wont to bee made of the *whole meale, from which the bran is not separated.
1828. Keightley, Fairy Mythol., II. 182. A nice half griddle of whole-meal bread.
1903. Ld. W. B. N[evill], Penal Serv., xv. 211. Neat little brown wholemeal loaves.
1904–5. Civil Service Supply Price-list, 60. Whole Meal … per 7 lb. bag, 1/4. Ibid., 128. Biscuits, Cabin, Navy, and Whole Meal.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 405/1. Of the Method of *Whole-moulding … used by the ancients, and which still continues in use among those unacquainted with the more proper methods.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 159. By whole-moulding, no more is narrowed at the floor than at the main breadth.
1597. T. Morley, Introd. Mus., Annot. ¶ b. A *whole note is that which the Latines call integer tonus, and is that distance which is betwixt any two notes, except mi & fa.
1698. Phil. Trans., XX. 250. The Difference of [a Fourth and Fifth] they agreed to call a Tone; which we now call a Whole note.
1890. Science-Gossip, XXVI. 18/2. Printing from *whole-plate negatives.
1876. Rock, Text. Fabr., 9. The first emperor who wore *whole silk for clothing.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, *Whole Stitch, a name sometimes applied to the Cloth Stitch of Pillow Lace.
2. a. Combinations formed of phrases like those in 1 used attrib. or as adjs., in sense ‘Consisting of, made with, relating to, comprising, or occupying the or a whole…,’ as whole-arm, -cane, -day, -fruit, -grain, -width, -world; (in sense 9) whole-leather, -worsted. (See also whole-color, etc., in d.)
1410. Rolls of Parlt., III. 637/2. Lesquelles sount appellez an Hol-worsted bed.
1820. Lamb, Elia, Ser. I. Christ’s Hospital. The haunting memory of those whole-day leaves.
1866. Howells, Venet. Life, xvi. 246. A grand, whole-arm movement.
1903. Westm. Gaz., 9 Oct., 6/3. A whole-leather boot could not be honestly purchased under 7s. 11d.
1904–5. Civil Service Supply Price-list, Index p. cii. Whole Fruit Jam.
1910. Encycl. Brit., II. 28/1. (Angling), A light whole-cane rod of stiff build. [Cf. split-cane, quot. 1890, s.v. SPLIT ppl. a. 2.]
1920. Cornh. Mag., Nov., 533. A whole-day tramp across country.
b. Parasynthetic comb., in various senses of the adj., as whole-backed, -bodied, -headed, -maned, -skinned, -skirted adj. (See also whole-chested, etc., in d.)
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 288. The Istrian Horsses are of good able feete, very straight, *whole backt, and hollow.
1577. Harrison, England, III. xii. 111/1, in Holinshed. Flies … whether they be cut wasted, or *whole bodyed … are voyde of poyson.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 660. If the carts are whole-bodied, the steward proceeds after the back-board is removed, to hawk out the dung; but if they are tilt or coup-carts [etc.].
1611. Cotgr., Ail masle, the *Whole-headed Garlicke.
1776. Withering, Bot. Arrangem., 503. *Whole-leaved Water hemp Agrimony.
1685. Lond. Gaz., No. 2069/4. A bright bay Gelding … *whole maned unless cut since.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 56. If thou bye kye or oxen to feede,… loke well … that he … be *hoole-mouthed, and want no tethe.
1776. Da Costa, Elem. Conchol., 209 (Jod.). The first genus, which he calls wholemouthed’ … is my genus of ‘turbo’ among the … snails.
1624. Fletcher, Rule a Wife, I. i. He is *whole skin’d, has no hurt yet.
1683. Lond. Gaz., No. 1910/4. A new *whole skirted Black Saddle having the Seat of Velvet and the Skirts of Hogs skin.
c. Advb. comb., as whole-bred (see d); see also C.
d. Special Combs.: whole-bred a. [cf. A. 9 a], of pure breed (opp. to HALF-BRED 1); † whole-chase boot (see quot.); † whole-chested a., having a sound chest or breast; fig. loyal-hearted; whole-colo(u)r, -colo(u)red adjs. [A. 9], of the same color throughout, concolor; whole-eared a., (a) having the ears whole, i.e., not cut; (b) listening ‘with all one’s ears,’ i.e., intently; so whole-eyed a., gazing intently; whole-feather [A. 9], a variety of pigeon having all the feathers of one color; so whole-feathered a.; whole-hearted a., (of a person) having one’s whole heart in something, completely devoted (orig. and chiefly U.S.); (of an action, etc.) done with one’s whole heart, thoroughly earnest or sincere; hence whole-heartedly adv., whole-heartedness; whole-hoofed a. [A. 8], having undivided hoofs, solidungulate; whole-length a., (a) of a portrait, etc., representing the whole human figure, usually standing; also ellipt. as sb. a whole-length portrait or statue; (b) gen. extending through the whole length; exhibited at full length; whole-minded a., giving one’s whole mind to something, completely interested; hence whole-mindedness; whole-moulded a. Ship-building, see quot. c. 1850, and cf. whole moulding in 1; whole-pull Change-ringing, see quots. (opp. to half-pull, HALF- II. n); whole-sail a., said of a wind in which a ship (esp. a yacht) can carry full sail; whole-seas humorous nonce-wd., quite drunk (after half-seas, short for HALF-SEAS-OVER 2); whole-souled a. orig. U.S. = whole-hearted; † whole-steal nonce-wd., ‘wholesale’ theft; † whole-stone a., (of lime) unslaked; whole-time a., occupying the whole of some particular time, esp. of the working time; (of a person) employed during the whole time; whole-timer = FULL-TIMER; whole-working Coal-mining, see quot., and cf. A. 8 e, B. 4.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. p. xxi. A *whole-bred Southdown fat wether.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., *Whole-chase Boots, are whole hunting, or large riding Boots.
1603. J. Davies, Microcosmos, 37. We are *whole-chested, and our Breastes doe hold A single Hart, that is as good, as great.
1633. Massinger, Guardian, IV. i. A well timbred youth … he’s whole chested too.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 2 Dec., 1/2. The collection includes a series of *whole-colour porcelain and soft paste blue and white.
1857. T. Moore, Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3), 42. Scales *whole-coloured or indistinctly two-coloured.
1907. R. Leighton’s New Bk. Dog, 429. The litter will consist of some whole-coloured blacks, and some whole-coloured whites.
1681. Lond. Gaz., No. 1633/4. A large light Brindle Mastiff Dog,… *whole-Ear’d.
1918. W. J. Locke, Rough Road, xv. The village turned out to listen to them in *whole-eyed and whole-eared wonder.
1879. L. Wright, Pigeon Keeper, 118. A Splash … may often be mated to advantage with a *Whole-feather.
1683. Lond. Gaz., No. 1799/4. A large black Mayled, *whole Feathered, and thorough mewed Falcon.
1840. Channing, Lett. to Miss Aikin, 18 July. What a *whole-hearted man! as we Yankees say.
1855. Pusey, Doctr. Real Presence, Notes 366. The most perfect and whole-hearted repentance.
1901. Scotsman, 14 March, 6/4. The whole-hearted support of British policy by the Canadians.
1893. in Barrows, World’s Parl. Relig., I. 534. Socially, we unite *whole-heartedly and without reservation with our non-Jewish fellow-citizens.
1854. Faber, Growth in Holiness, iv. 60. The great lesson of the Crucifix is *whole-heartedness with God.
1882. Farrar, Early Chr., IV. xxii. II. 43. A wavering disposition,… a want of whole-heartedness, a dualism of life and aim.
1601. Holland, Pliny, VIII. xxi. I. 206. In India, there be found bœufes *whole hoofed, with single hornes. Ibid., XI. xlvi. 351. In some parts of Sclavonia, the Swine are not cloven-footed, but whole houfed.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 187. The Quadrupeda, whereof some are μονώνυχα, whole-hooft, such as Asses, Mules, Horses.
1835. [see SOLIPED a.].
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1768), III. 259. Your drawings … are all taken down; as is also your own *whole-length picture.
1752. Chesterf., Lett. to Son, 28 Nov. Undoubted originals (whether heads, half-lengths, or whole-lengths, no matter) of Cardinals Richelieu, Mazarin, and Retz.
1817. T. F. Dibdin, Bibliogr. Decam., II. 434, note. A small whole length of Joseph with an angel above.
1818. Hazlitt, Engl. Poets, iv. 139. The faultless whole-length mirror that reflected his own person.
1856. Faris El-Shidiac, Pract. Gram. Arabic, 18. Swelling the grammar unnecessarily with a great number of whole-length conjugations.
1865. C. R. Leslie & T. Taylor, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I. 104. The portrait which tended most to establish his reputation was a whole-length of Captain Keppel … on a sandy beach.
1906. Lit. World, 15 Nov., 504/2. Whilst admitting … the great spirit and immense intellectuality of the woman, he cannot but feel … a lack of sincerity, of *whole-mindedness.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 406/1. Fixing a point for the aftermost timber that is *whole moulded.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 159. Whole-moulded, a term applied to the bodies of those ships which are so constructed that one mould made to the midship bend, with the addition of a floor hollow, will mould all the timbers, below the main breadth, in the square body.
1668. [Stedman], Tintinnalogia (1671), 54. *Whole-pulls, is to Ring two Rounds in one change, that is, Fore-stroke and Back-stroke,… so that every time you pull down the bells at Sally, you make a new change differing from that at the Back-stroke next before; this Whole-pulls was altogether practised in former time.
1872. Ellacombe, Bells of Ch., in Ch. Bells Devon, iii. 228. A ‘whole pull’ includes swinging the bell round twice, off from the balance, and round up to the balance again…. In whole-pull ringing each bell makes a whole pull to every change.
1885. Sat. Rev., 3 Jan., 11/1. The heeling occurs only in strong *whole-sail winds.
1821. Joseph the Book-Man, 85. Some, half-seas, like fools do swagger, While other some, *whole-seas, do stagger.
1834. Kentuckian in New York, I. 190 (Thornton). [The New-Yorkers] are a *whole-souled people.
1863. Hawthorne, Our Old Home, Haunts of Burns, II. 72. A bust of Burns … looking … not so warm and whole-souled as his pictures usually do.
1893. F. Adams, New Egypt, 209. A most vigorous and whole-souled resentment.
1649. Lightfoot, Battle with Wasp’s Nest, Wks. 1825, I. 423. Whom you have so unworthily used, as to steal his arguments by *whole-steal.
1703. Churchw. Acc. Bucknall, Lincs. (MS.), 3. Chalden of *wholestone Lime.
1906. Athenæum, 13 Oct., 421/3. The Inspector of Colleges … will be a *whole-time officer of the University.
1918. Act 8 Geo. V., c. 5 Sched. 1. § 4. Engaged in whole-time work … of national importance.
1869. Daily News, 18 Dec., 5/2. The Board is also to see that all the children of a district attend some school either as *whole-timers or half-timers, [etc.].
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., *Whole-working, Newc., working where the ground is still whole, i. e., has not been penetrated as yet with breasts. Opposed to pillar-work, or the extraction of pillars left to support previous work.
