Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

2 CONJ You use who after certain words, especially verbs and adjectives, to introduce a clause where you talk about the identity of a person or a group of people. □  Police have not been able to find out who was responsible for the forgeries. □  I went over to start up a conversation, asking her who she knew at the party. □  You know who these people are.

3 PRON You use who at the beginning of a relative clause when specifying the person or group of people you are talking about or when giving more information about them. □  There are those who eat out for a special occasion, or treat themselves. □  The woman, who needs constant attention, is cared for by relatives.

whoa / ^h woʊ /

1 EXCLAM Whoa is a command that you give to a horse to slow down or stop.

2 EXCLAM You can say whoa to someone who is talking to you, to indicate that you think they are talking too fast or assuming things that may not be true. [INFORMAL ] □  Slow down! Whoa!

who'd /huː d, huːd/

1Who'd is the usual spoken form of 'who had', especially when 'had' is an auxiliary verb.

2Who'd is a spoken form of 'who would'.

who|dun|nit /huːdʌ n I t/ (whodunnits ) also whodunit N‑COUNT A whodunnit is a novel, film, or play which is about a murder and which does not tell you who the murderer is until the end. [INFORMAL ]

who|ever /huːe və ^r /

1 CONJ You use whoever to refer to someone when their identity is not yet known. □  Whoever wins the election is going to have a tough job getting the economy back on its feet. □  Ben, I want whoever's responsible to come forward.

2 CONJ You use whoever to indicate that the actual identity of the person who does something will not affect a situation. □  You can have whoever you like to visit you. □  Everybody who goes into this region, whoever they are, is at risk of being taken hostage.

3 ADV You use whoever in questions as an emphatic way of saying 'who', usually when you are surprised about something. [EMPHASIS ] □  Ridiculous! Whoever suggested such a thing?

whole ◆◆◆ /hoʊ l/ (wholes )

1 QUANT If you refer to the whole of something, you mean all of it. □ [+ of ] Early in the eleventh century the whole of England was conquered by the Vikings. □ [+ of ] I was cold throughout the whole of my body. □ [+ of ] …the whole of August. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Whole is also an adjective. □  He'd been observing her the whole trip. □  We spent the whole summer in Italy that year.

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A whole is a single thing which contains several different parts. □  An atom itself is a complete whole, with its electrons, protons and neutrons.

3 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If something is whole , it is in one piece and is not broken or damaged. □  I struck the glass with my fist with all my might; yet it remained whole. □  Small bones should be avoided as the dog may swallow them whole and risk internal injury.

4 ADV [ADV adj] You use whole to emphasize what you are saying. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  It was like seeing a whole different side of somebody. □  His father had helped invent a whole new way of doing business. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Whole is also an adjective. □  That saved me a whole bunch of money.

5 PHRASE If you refer to something as a whole , you are referring to it generally and as a single unit. □  He described the move as a victory for the people of South Africa as a whole. □  As a whole we do not eat enough fibre in Britain.