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Fully vs Whole - What's the difference?

fully | whole |

As adverbs the difference between fully and whole

is that fully is in a full manner; without lack or defect while whole is (colloquial) in entirety; entirely; wholly.

As an adjective whole is

entire.

As a noun whole is

something complete, without any parts missing.

fully

English

Adverb

(en-adv)
  • In a full manner; without lack or defect.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=19 citation , passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
  • In a full degree; to a full extent.
  • *
    • The lobule margins, furthermore, are arched away from the lobe, with the consequence that (when fully inflated) the abaxial leaf surface forms the interior lining of the lobule.
  • As a minimum; at least.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.}}

    Synonyms

    * (in a full manner) * (to a full extent) (undifferentiated synonyms) * completely * entirely * maturely * plentifully * abundantly * plenteously * copiously * largely * amply * sufficiently * perfectly

    Related terms

    * fully committed * fully well

    whole

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Entire.
  • :
  • *1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • *:During the whole' time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the ' whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • *
  • *:Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging.He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.
  • *, chapter=16
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages.}}
  • Sound, uninjured, healthy.
  • :
  • *1939 , (Alfred Edward Housman), Additional Poems , X, lines 5-6
  • *:Here, with one balm for many fevers found, / Whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound.
  • (lb) From which none of its constituents has been removed.
  • :

    • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly.
    • I ate a fish whole !

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something complete, without any parts missing.
  • An entirety.

    • Meronyms

    * part

    Derived terms

    * as a whole * go the whole hog * make whole * on the whole * out of whole cloth * the whole nine yards * whole shitting match * whole shooting match * whole ball of wax * whole-hearted * wholemeal * whole number * whole step * wholesome * whole-wheat

    Statistics

    *

    External links

    * All and whole — Linguapress online English grammar