: of or relating to whom or which especially as possessor or possessors,
Whose gorgeous vesture heaps the ground?—Robert Browning
agent or agents,
… the law courts, whose decisions were important …—F. L. Mott
or object or objects of an action
… the first poem whose publication he ever sanctioned …—J. W. Krutch
Note: Do not confuse whose with who's, which is a contraction of "who is" ("the child who's giggling") or of "who has" ("the one who's helped before").
singular or plural in construction
: that which belongs to whom
—used without a following noun as a pronoun equivalent in meaning to the adjective whose
… tell me whose it was.—William Shakespeare
Cite this Entry
“Whose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whose. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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