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ON THE WHOLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
With everything considered (and neglecting details)
Example:
all in all, it's not so bad
Synonyms:
all in all; altogether; on the whole; tout ensemble
Classified under:
Context examples:
In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On the whole, I think that we are jolly well out of it.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On the whole, tropical deforestation generates large economic losses and subsequent erosion from conversion was not even factored into the analysis.
(Most countries lose out with forest-to-farm conversions, SciDev.Net)
And when, at last, I shouldered the coracle and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped, there were but two points visible on the whole anchorage.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Every disposition of the ground was good; and she looked on the whole scene, the river, the trees scattered on its banks and the winding of the valley, as far as she could trace it, with delight.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
It was his story, Adventure, which had dragged with Ruth, that Martin believed had achieved his ideal of the true in fiction; and it was in an essay, God and Clod, that he had expressed his views on the whole general subject.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
No, he was pretty mild, on the whole.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
On the whole, then, it was best that I should risk the climb.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On the whole, it was probably some creature of the weasel and stoat tribe—and yet it is larger than any of these that I have seen.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"It is fair to-night," said she, as she looked through the panes, "though not starlight; Mr. Rochester has, on the whole, had a favourable day for his journey."
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
