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Sheer vs Whole - What's the difference?

sheer | whole |

As adjectives the difference between sheer and whole

is that sheer is (textiles) very thin or transparent while whole is entire.

As adverbs the difference between sheer and whole

is that sheer is (archaic) clean; quite; at once while whole is (colloquial) in entirety; entirely; wholly.

As nouns the difference between sheer and whole

is that sheer is (nautical) the curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern while whole is something complete, without any parts missing.

As a verb sheer

is (chiefly|nautical) to swerve from a course.

sheer

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (textiles) Very thin or transparent.
  • * '>citation
  • (obsolete) Pure; unmixed.
  • * Shakespeare
    • sheer ale
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thou sheer , immaculate, and silver fountain.
  • Being only what it seems to be; mere.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
    • Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.
  • Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
  • Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
  • *
    • , title=The Mirror and the Lamp , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence.}}
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
    • Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
    Synonyms
    * (very thin or transparent) diaphanous, see-through, thin * downright, mere, pure, undiluted, unmitigated * (straight up and down) perpendicular, steep, vertical

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic) clean; quite; at once.
    • (Milton)

    Etymology 2

    ; see also (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
  • (nautical) An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (chiefly, nautical) To swerve from a course.
    • A horse sheers at a bicycle.
  • * 1899 ,
    • I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank, as the sounding–pole informed me.
  • (obsolete) To shear.
    • (Dryden)

    References

    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    *

    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