what definition | Dictionary.com

what

[hwuht, hwot, wuht, wot; unstressed hwuh

t, wuh

–pronoun

1.	(used interrogatively as a request for specific information): What is the matter?

2.	(used interrogatively to inquire about the character, occupation, etc., of a person): What does he do?

3.	(used interrogatively to inquire as to the origin, identity, etc., of something): What are those birds?

4.	(used interrogatively to inquire as to the worth, usefulness, force, or importance of something): What is wealth without friends?

5.	(used interrogatively to request a repetition of words or information not fully understood, usually used in elliptical constructions): You need what?

6.	(used interrogatively to inquire the reason or purpose of something, usually used in elliptical constructions): What of it?

7.	how much?: What does it cost?

8.	(used relatively to indicate that which): I will send what was promised.

9.	whatever; anything that: Say what you please. Come what may.

10.	the kind of thing or person that: He said what everyone expected he would. They are just what I was expecting.

11.	as much as; as many as: We should each give what we can.

12.	the thing or fact that (used in parenthetic clauses): He went to the meeting and, what was worse, insisted on speaking.

13.	(used to indicate more to follow, additional possibilities, alternatives, etc.): You know what? Shall we go or what?

14.	(used as an intensifier in exclamatory phrases, often fol. by an indefinite article): What luck! What an idea!

15.	British. don't you agree?: An unusual chap, what?

16.	Nonstandard. that; which; who: She's the one what told me.

–noun

17.	the true nature or identity of something, or the sum of its characteristics: a lecture on the whats and hows of crop rotation.

–adjective

18.	(used interrogatively before nouns): What news? What clothes shall I pack?

19.	whatever: Take what supplies you need.

–adverb

20.	to what extent or degree? how much?: What does it matter?

21.	(used to introduce a prepositional phrase beginning with with): What with storms and all, their return was delayed.

22.	Obsolete. for what reason or purpose? why?

–interjection

23.	(used in exclamatory expressions, often fol. by a question): What, no salt?

–conjunction

24.	Older Use. as much as; as far as: He helps me what he can.

—Idioms

25.	but what, Informal. but that; but who; who or that … not: Who knows but what the sun may still shine.

26.	Say what? Slang. (used esp. among teenagers) What's that you say? Would you repeat that?

27.	So what? Informal. (an expression of disinterest, disinclination, or contempt.)

28.

what for,

a.	why: What are you doing that for?

b.	a punishment or scolding.

29.	what have you, other things of the same kind; so forth: money, jewels, stocks, and what have you.

30.	what if, what would be the outcome if; suppose that: What if everyone who was invited comes?

31.	what it takes, something that enables one to achieve success or attain a desired end, as good looks, ability, or money: There's a young woman who has what it takes to get along in the world.

32.	what's what, Informal. the true situation; all the facts: It's high time you told him what's what.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE hwæt; c. G was, D wat, ON hvat; akin to Goth hwa, L quod, Gk tí

Usage note:
24. See doubt.

what's

[hwuhts, hwots, wuhts, wots; unstressed hwuh

ts, wuh

ts]

1.	contraction of what is or what has: What's the matter? What's been done?

2.	contraction of what does: What's she do for a living?

Usage note:
See contraction.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To what

what (hwŏt, hwŭt, wŏt, wŭt; hwət, wət when unstressed)

pron.

1. Which thing or which particular one of many: What are you having for dinner? What did she say?
2. Which kind, character, or designation: What are these objects?
3. One of how much value or significance: What are possessions to a dying man?
4. That which; the thing that: Listen to what I tell you.
5. Whatever thing that: come what may.
1. That which; the thing that: Listen to what I tell you.
2. Whatever thing that: come what may.
Informal Something: I'll tell you what.
Nonstandard Which, who, or that: It's the poor what gets the blame.

adj.

Which one or ones of several or many: What college are you attending? You should know what musical that song is from.
Whatever: They soon repaired what damage had been done.
How great; how astonishing: What a fool!

adv.  How much; in what respect; how: What does it matter?
conj.  That: I don't know but what I'll go.
interj.

Used to express surprise, incredulity, or other strong and sudden excitement.
Chiefly British Used as a tag question, often to solicit agreement.

[Middle English, from Old English hwæt; see k^wo- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: When what is the subject of a clause, it takes a singular verb if the word or phrase that completes the sentence (the complement) is singular, as in I see what seems to be a dead tree. It is plural if a plural noun or noun phrase completes the sentence, as in He sometimes makes what seem to be gestures of reconciliation. · Clauses with what as either subject or object may themselves be the subject of a sentence, and sometimes it is difficult to decide whether the verb of the main clause should be singular or plural. When the what in the what-clause is the object of the verb and the complement of the main clause is singular, the main verb is always singular: What they wanted was a home of their own; when the complement of the main sentence is plural, the verb is most often plural: What American education needs are smaller classes, though one also encounters sentences such as What the candidate gave the audience was the same old empty promises. When what is the subject of a what-clause that is the subject of a main clause, there is greater variation in usage. When the verb of the what-clause and the complement of the main clause are both plural or both singular, the number of the verb of the main clause generally agrees with them. When the verb in the what-clause is singular and the complement in the main clause is plural, one finds both singular and plural verbs being used. Sentences similar to both of the following are found in respected writers: What drives me crazy is her frequent tantrums; What bothers him are the discrepancies in their accounts. When the complement of the main clause consists of two or more nouns, the verb of the main clause is generally singular if the nouns are singular and plural if they are plural: What pleases the voters is his honesty and his willingness to take on difficult issues; On entering the harbor what first meet the eye are luxurious yachts and colorful villas. Occasionally the choice of a singular or plural verb may be used to convey a difference in meaning. In the sentence What excite him most are money and power, the implication is that money and power are separable goals; in What excites him most is money and power, the implication is that money and power are inextricably bound together. See Usage Note at which.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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What

What\, pron., a., & adv. [AS. hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries. hwet, D. & LG. wat, G. was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. [root]182. See Who.]

1. As an interrogative pronoun, used in asking questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this? what did you say? what poem is this? what child is lost?

What see'st thou in the ground? --Shak.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? --Ps. viii. 4.

What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! --Matt. viii. 27.

Note: Originally, what, when, where, which, who, why, etc., were interrogatives only, and it is often difficult to determine whether they are used as interrogatives or relatives. What in this sense, when it refers to things, may be used either substantively or adjectively; when it refers to persons, it is used only adjectively with a noun expressed, who being the pronoun used substantively.

2. As an exclamatory word: (a) Used absolutely or independently; -- often with a question following. "What welcome be thou." --Chaucer.

What, could ye not watch with me one hour? --Matt. xxvi. 40. (b) Used adjectively, meaning how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage!

What a piece of work is man! --Shak.

O what a riddle of absurdity! --Young.

Note: What in this use has a or an between itself and its noun if the qualitative or quantitative importance of the object is emphasized. (c) Sometimes prefixed to adjectives in an adverbial sense, as nearly equivalent to how; as, what happy boys!

What partial judges are our love and hate! --Dryden.

3. As a relative pronoun: (a) Used substantively with the antecedent suppressed, equivalent to that which, or those [persons] who, or those [things] which; -- called a compound relative.

With joy beyond what victory bestows. --Cowper.

I'm thinking Captain Lawton will count the noses of what are left before they see their whaleboats. --Cooper.

What followed was in perfect harmony with this beginning. --Macaulay.

I know well . . . how little you will be disposed to criticise what comes to you from me. --J. H. Newman. (b) Used adjectively, equivalent to the . . . which; the sort or kind of . . . which; rarely, the . . . on, or at, which.

See what natures accompany what colors. --Bacon.

To restrain what power either the devil or any earthly enemy hath to work us woe. --Milton.

We know what master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel. --Longfellow. (c) Used adverbially in a sense corresponding to the adjectival use; as, he picked what good fruit he saw.

4. Whatever; whatsoever; what thing soever; -- used indefinitely. "What after so befall." --Chaucer.

Whether it were the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will, . . . or what it was. --Bacon.

5. Used adverbially, in part; partly; somewhat; -- with a following preposition, especially, with, and commonly with repetition.

What for lust [pleasure] and what for lore. --Chaucer.

Thus, what with the war, what with the sweat, what with the gallows, and what with poverty, I am custom shrunk. --Shak.

The year before he had so used the matter that what by force, what by policy, he had taken from the Christians above thirty small castles. --Knolles.

Note: In such phrases as I tell you what, what anticipates the following statement, being elliptical for what I think, what it is, how it is, etc. "I tell thee what, corporal Bardolph, I could tear her." --Shak. Here what relates to the last clause, "I could tear her;" this is what I tell you. What not is often used at the close of an enumeration of several particulars or articles, it being an abbreviated clause, the verb of which, being either the same as that of the principal clause or a general word, as be, say, mention, enumerate, etc., is omitted. "Men hunt, hawk, and what not." --Becon. "Some dead puppy, or log, orwhat not." --C. Kingsley. "Battles, tournaments, hunts, and what not." --De Quincey. Hence, the words are often used in a general sense with the force of a substantive, equivalent to anything you please, a miscellany, a variety, etc. From this arises the name whatnot, applied to an ['e]tag[`e]re, as being a piece of furniture intended for receiving miscellaneous articles of use or ornament. But what is used for but that, usually after a negative, and excludes everything contrary to the assertion in the following sentence. "Her needle is not so absolutely perfect in tent and cross stitch but what my superintendence is advisable." --Sir W. Scott. "Never fear but what our kite shall fly as high." --Ld. Lytton.

What ho! an exclamation of calling.

What if, what will it matter if; what will happen or be the result if. "What if it be a poison?" --Shak.

What of this? that? it? etc., what follows from this, that, it, etc., often with the implication that it is of no consequence. "All this is so; but what of this, my lord?" --Shak. "The night is spent, why, what of that?" --Shak.

What though, even granting that; allowing that; supposing it true that. "What though the rose have prickles, yet't is plucked." --Shak.

What time, or What time as, when. [Obs. or Archaic] "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." --Ps. lvi. 3.

What time the morn mysterious visions brings. --Pope.

What

What\, n. Something; thing; stuff. [Obs.]

And gave him for to feed, Such homely what as serves the simple ?lown. --Spenser.

What

What\, interrog. adv. Why? For what purpose? On what account? [Obs.]

What should I tell the answer of the knight. --Chaucer.

But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates? What do I pick up so thriftily their scatterings and diminishings of the meaner subject? --Milton.

Language Translation for : what

Spanish: qué,

German: was (für),

Japanese: 何が

More Translations »

what

O.E. hwæt, from P.Gmc. *khwat (cf. O.S. hwat, O.N. hvat, Dan. hvad, O.Fris. hwet, Du. wat, O.H.G. hwaz, Ger. was, Goth. hva "what"), from PIE *qwod, neut. sing. of *qwos "who" (see who). Meaning "what did you say?" is recorded from c.1300; as an interrogative expletive at the end of sentences it is first recorded 1785, common early 20c. in affected British speech. Or what as an alternative end to a question is first attested 1766. "To give one what for is to respond to his remonstrant what for? by further assault" [Weekley]. The phrase is attested from 1873. What's-his-name for "unspecified person" is attested from 1697; variant whatsisface is first recorded 1967. What's up? "what is happening?" first recorded 1881.

what

In addition to the idioms beginning with what, also see come what may; for all one is (what it's) worth; get what's coming to one; it's (what) a zoo; just what the doctor ordered; know the score (what's what); left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing; no matter (what); on earth, what; or what?; practice what you preach; sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, what's; so what; where's (what's) the beef?; you know something (you know what).

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