• 2-minute read
• 8th February 2020

Word Choice: Hole vs. Whole

The words ‘hole’ and ‘whole’ sound the same. However, one is spelled with a ‘w’ at the start. And these words have very different meanings. Check our guide to what these terms mean and make sure your work is always error free.

Hole (Gap or Hollow)

‘Hole’ is most often a noun that refers to a gap or empty space. This could be a gap that goes straight through something or simply a hollow in a surface:

Polo Mints have a hole in the middle.

I’ve dug a hole in the ground and filled it with Polo Mints.

A rarer use of ‘hole’ is as a verb meaning ‘make a hole in something’:

HMS Pathfinder sank after being holed by a torpedo.

As above, this verb sense of ‘hole’ usually refers to damaging a ship or boat.

Whole (Entire or Unbroken)

As an adjective, the word ‘whole’ typically means ‘entire’ or ‘unbroken’:

I ate the whole cake.

The snake swallowed its prey whole.

Here, ‘whole’ modifies the nouns ‘cake’ (i.e. an entire cake) and ‘prey’ (i.e. the prey was swallowed in one piece). But ‘whole’ can also be a noun meaning ‘the entirety of something’. For example, we could use it as a noun in the following:

The chapters in a book should form a coherent whole.

This will affect the whole of humanity.

In all cases, though, ‘whole’ refers to something that is entire or undivided.

The silent ‘w’ at the start of ‘whole’, meanwhile, was not always silent! In the 15th century, people may have sounded the ‘w’ as part of the word. Why we’ve kept it even though we no longer pronounce it is another question, though.

Summary: Hole or Whole?

The silent ‘w’ in ‘whole’ makes it easy to confuse this word with ‘hole’. However, these terms have very different meanings. Remember:

• Hole is a noun that refers to a gap, empty space or hollow.
• Whole is usually an adjective that means ‘entire’ or ‘unbroken’.

Keep in mind that most spellcheckers won’t tell you if you have mixed up these terms, as both are terms from the dictionary and spellchecking software doesn’t understand what you’ve written. But with our expert proofreading service, you can be sure your writing is always free from mistakes.