Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

whole

2 noun
     
whole2 S3 W2
1

the whole of something

all of something, especially something that is not a physical object:
The whole of the morning was wasted trying to find the documents.
2

on the whole

used to say that something is generally true:
On the whole, I thought the film was pretty good.
3

as a whole

used to say that all the parts of something are being considered together:
This project will be of great benefit to the region as a whole.
4 [countable usually singular] something that consists of a number of parts, but is considered as a single unit:
Two halves make a whole.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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