a. [ OE. hole, hol, hal, hool, AS. hāl well, sound, healthy; akin to OFries. & OS. h&unr_;l, D. heel, G. heil, Icel. heill, Sw. hel whole, Dan. heel, Goth. hails well, sound, OIr. c&unr_;l augury. Cf. Hale, Hail to greet, Heal to cure, Health, Holy. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Containing the total amount, number, etc.; comprising all the parts; free from deficiency; all; total; entire; as, the whole earth; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation. “On their whole host I flew unarmed.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The whole race of mankind. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Complete; entire; not defective or imperfect; not broken or fractured; unimpaired; uninjured; integral; as, a whole orange; the egg is whole; the vessel is whole. [ 1913 Webster ]

My life is yet whole in me. 2 Sam. i. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Possessing, or being in a state of, heath and soundness; healthy; sound; well. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ She ] findeth there her friends hole and sound. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

They that be whole need not a physician. Matt. ix. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

When Sir Lancelot's deadly hurt was whole. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whole blood. (Law of Descent) See under Blood, n., 2. --
Whole note (Mus.), the note which represents a note of longest duration in common use; a semibreve. --
Whole number (Math.), a number which is not a fraction or mixed number; an integer. --
Whole snipe (Zool.), the common snipe, as distinguished from the smaller jacksnipe. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- All; total; complete; entire; integral; undivided; uninjured; unimpaired; unbroken; healthy. -- Whole, Total, Entire, Complete. When we use the word whole, we refer to a thing as made up of parts, none of which are wanting; as, a whole week; a whole year; the whole creation. When we use the word total, we have reference to all as taken together, and forming a single totality; as, the total amount; the total income. When we speak of a thing as entire, we have no reference to parts at all, but regard the thing as an integer, i. e., continuous or unbroken; as, an entire year; entire prosperity. When we speak of a thing as complete, there is reference to some progress which results in a filling out to some end or object, or a perfected state with no deficiency; as, complete success; a complete victory. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the whole army stood agazed on him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

One entire and perfect chrysolite. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest total darkness should by night regain
Her old possession, and extinguish life. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

So absolute she seems,
And in herself complete. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The entire thing; the entire assemblage of parts; totality; all of a thing, without defect or exception; a thing complete in itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

This not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die. J. Montgomery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A regular combination of parts; a system. [ 1913 Webster ]

Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Committee of the whole. See under Committee. --
Upon the whole, considering all things; taking everything into account; in view of all the circumstances or conditions. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Totality; total; amount; aggregate; gross. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having an undivided hoof, as the horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Representing the whole figure; -- said of a picture or statue. -- n. A portrait or statue representing the whole figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being whole, entire, or sound; entireness; totality; completeness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to consumers; as, a wholesale merchant; the wholesale price. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Extensive and indiscriminate; as, wholesale slaughter. “A time for wholesale trust.” Mrs. Humphry Ward. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Sale of goods by the piece or large quantity, as distinguished from retail. [ 1913 Webster ]

By wholesale, in the mass; in large quantities; without distinction or discrimination. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some, from vanity or envy, despise a valuable book, and throw contempt upon it by wholesale. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Wholesomer superl. Wholesomest. ] [ Whole + some; cf. Icel. heilsamr, G. heilsam, D. heilzaam. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wholesome thirst and appetite. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

From which the industrious poor derive an agreeable and wholesome variety of food. A Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Contributing to the health of the mind; favorable to morals, religion, or prosperity; conducive to good; salutary; sound; as, wholesome advice; wholesome doctrines; wholesome truths; wholesome laws. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Prov. xv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

I can not . . . make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wholesome suspicion began to be entertained. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sound; healthy. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Whole"some*ly, adv. -- Whole"some*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Thoroughly imbued with a right spirit; noble-minded; devoted. [ 1913 Webster ]