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Whole vs Enough - What's the difference?

whole | enough |

As adverbs the difference between whole and enough

is that whole is (colloquial) in entirety; entirely; wholly while enough is sufficiently.

As an adjective whole

is entire.

As a noun whole

is something complete, without any parts missing.

As a determiner enough is

sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.

As a pronoun enough is

a sufficient or adequate number, amount, etc.

As an interjection enough is

stop! don't do that anymore, etc.

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

    *

    enough

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) * (l) (obsolete) * (l), (l), (l) (Scotland)

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • Sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.
  • * Bible, (Gospel of Luke) xv. 17
  • How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare!
  • * , chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=15 citation , passage=‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough ! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’}}

    Adverb

    (head)
  • Sufficiently.
  • :
  • *, chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.}}
  • Fully; quite; used to express slight augmentation of the positive degree, and sometimes equivalent to very .
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:I know you well enough ; you are Signior Antonio.
  • *
  • *:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  • Usage notes

    * As an adverb, enough always follows the verb it qualifies.

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • A sufficient or adequate number, amount, etc.
  • I have enough to keep me going .

    Interjection

  • stop! Don't do that anymore, etc.
  • Enough !