How to Use whole in a Sentence

whole

1 of 3 adjective
  • She read the whole book in one day.
  • The whole evening was a great success.
  • We cooked a whole chicken.
  • I've been waiting my whole life for this.
  • We decided to forget the whole thing.
  • It's been a whole week since I've seen him.
  • The doctor assured me that the whole procedure would only take a few minutes.
  • The whole place was remodeled. It looks great now.
  • The community center offers a whole range of programs.
  • I spent the whole summer traveling through Europe.
  • The whole shift felt like that.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2026
  • The whole thing is so … cringe.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2025
  • There was a whole town in there.
    — Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 10 Feb. 2026
  • But hats off to this whole team.
    — ABC News, 6 June 2026
  • There were a whole bunch of things.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 27 June 2026
  • So is this whole thing over yet?
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2026
  • And the whole class is just silent.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Damn, like a whole year ago, bro.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 24 Feb. 2026
  • He's got face scars, the whole deal.
    — Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025
  • The whole thing still seems crazy to me.
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2025
  • This whole movie is about you three guys.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The whole thing is built to move fast.
    — Patrick Moorhead, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Heck, the whole film should feel like that.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The whole city has a good vibe that week.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
  • The whole box didn't end up in the trash.
    — Endia Fontanez, AZCentral.com, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The whole back of my shirt was wet from sweat.
    — Carson Blackwelder, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
  • In fact, the whole squad has to lock in more.
    — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 21 June 2026
  • There’s a whole process your body has to go through.
    — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
  • That’s kind of the way the whole thing came about.
    — Jem Aswad, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
  • This pie makes use of the whole lemon—skin and all.
    — Patricia S York, Southern Living, 19 Apr. 2026

whole

2 of 3 noun
  • The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 May 2026
  • That goes for the Knicks as a whole.
    — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 22 June 2026
  • In the end, the sum of the parts were greater than the whole.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Dec. 2023
  • But the whole thing is a unified whole.
    — Luke Burbank, CBS News, 28 June 2026
  • The roster is, for the most part, whole.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026
  • They shouldn’t be swallowed whole.
    — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
  • And that goes for the whole of Star City.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 5 June 2026
  • The sum of its parts is supposed to be greater than the whole.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The whole is, after all, greater than the sum of its parts.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Here's the whole listNeed a news break?
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Can a record be shiny and also kind of earthy and spare, in the whole?
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
  • So this is a whole of government, full on press.
    — CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Because grief was not a thing to be swallowed whole.
    — Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
  • So much that was hidden now completes the whole.
    — Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
  • But the postseason as a whole is a marathon.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 3 May 2026
  • This whole s—t started because of you.
    — Angel Diaz, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts; that's a flaw in our thinking.
    — Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
  • How do these three songs represent the project as a whole?
    — Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 14 May 2026
  • New cars are, on the whole, very good and very reliable.
    — Adam Ismail, The Drive, 4 Feb. 2026
  • On the whole, that’s very close to my intention.
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
  • On the whole, all seasons are getting warmer faster.
    — Julia James, Dallas Morning News, 18 Mar. 2026
  • On the whole, all seasons are getting warmer faster.
    — Elissa Jorgensen, Dallas Morning News, 22 Mar. 2026
  • On the whole, theme park rides are designed with safety top of mind.
    — Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 13 May 2026
  • There’s a snake devouring a frog whole.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 June 2026
  • And on the whole, that group has underwhelmed.
    — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
  • For Adamez, and the Wolfpack as a whole.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 31 May 2026
  • Blueberries are easy to eat whole.
    — Julie Scott, Verywell Health, 6 Apr. 2026
  • All parts, no whole, and damn near nothing worth standing for.
    — Donika Kelly, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The part uniquely defines the whole.
    — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 20 Jan. 2026
  • What are your goals for the year ahead—both for your own climbing, and the sport on the whole?
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Feb. 2026

whole

3 of 3 adverb
  • The frog swallowed the fly whole.
  • We cooked the chicken whole.
  • Most snakes cannot take bites and must engulf their prey whole.
    — Bethany Brookshire, Scientific American, 7 Dec. 2022
  • They are sold whole and meant to be ripped and dipped into schmears.
    — Olivia Wakim, AJC.com, 24 Jan. 2026
  • They are sold whole and meant to be ripped and dipped into schmears.
    — Olivia Wakim, AJC.com, 11 Feb. 2026
  • They are sold whole and meant to be ripped and dipped into schmears.
    — Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 3 Mar. 2026
  • They are sold whole and meant to be ripped and dipped into schmears.
    — Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 3 June 2026
  • The spices come whole, so throw in one of our best pepper mills to go with it.
    — Samantha MacAvoy, Good Housekeeping, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Roast them whole drizzled in butter or olive oil with garlic.
    — Nancy Lebrun, Verywell Health, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Tubers can be planted whole or cut into pieces with at least one eye per piece.
    — Jodi Bay, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2021
  • Fish, whether whole or cut, should be firm and shiny, but never soft, mushy, sticky or oily, signs of age.
    — Nicole Sours Larson, sandiegouniontribune.com, 9 July 2018
  • The squabs can be served whole or cut in half with kitchen shears; or, use a sharp knife to carve the meat away from the breast cage.
    — Daniel Boulud, ELLE Decor, 17 Aug. 2011
  • Mina and Sanniti jar them whole, which can be a bit messier to use.
    — Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 4 Sep. 2020
  • That whole dry, breakage thing continued to get worse as the days progressed.
    — Rachel Jacoby Zoldan, SELF, 18 July 2017
  • The hope is that, with time, these productions can help make the industry whole again.
    — Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Nov. 2022
  • The chiles can be scattered whole over the dish or blended into the lime juice for an even more fiery effect.
    — Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2019
  • To serve, either leave the tofu planks whole or slice them on the bias, and spoon over the sauce and vegetables.
    — Joe Yonan, Washington Post, 5 July 2020
  • So much so that Dean does a whole fake proposal (ew, men never do this) with a key to his house.
    — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 23 Feb. 2018
  • The Prestons are just happy to have their family whole again.
    — Abbey Roy, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2022
  • Whether Southampton would want to lose him is a whole different question.
    — SI.com, 26 July 2019
  • Charles is no longer the man who talks to his plants but the figurehead who must keep the kingdom whole during a tricky time.
    — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2022
  • It’s made from the same vanilla beans that would otherwise be sold whole or made into extract or paste.
    — Kate Kassin, Bon Appétit, 10 Sep. 2022
  • The prison had obtained whole-head lettuce that was consumed by the prisoners.
    — Lena H. Sun and Joel Achenbach, chicagotribune.com, 24 Apr. 2018
  • Jake, so excited by the prospect of a child, embraces the lie whole-heartedly.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Spending time alone is one way to feed your soul, pour into your cup, and show up to your relationship whole.
    — Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 27 Dec. 2022
  • There’s this whole deeper meaning [to the dialogue].
    — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
  • The defense as a whole totaled five sacks and eight tackles for loss, came up with four takeaways and broke up four passes.
    — Creg Stephenson | [email protected], al, 20 Aug. 2022
  • The scheme was revealed when one of the phones was sold whole on eBay to an uninvolved purchaser.
    — Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Besides eating the whole grains whole, consuming things made with whole grain flours is another way to get at the good stuff.
    — Katie Workman, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2020
  • Halved or left whole, they can be roasted, braised, pickled, creamed, glazed, confited, or used to crown a stunning tarte tatin.
    — Alex Delany, Bon Appétit, 17 May 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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