whole number

[ hohl-nuhm-ber ]
See synonyms for whole number on Thesaurus.com
nounMathematics.
  1. Also called counting number. one of the positive integers or zero; any of the numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, …).

  2. (loosely) integer (def. 1).

Origin of whole number

1
First recorded in 1550–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use whole number in a sentence

  • Meyer had prepared me for the coming storm, when Beethoven should hear of leaving out three whole numbers of the first act.

  • Whole numbers of musical reviews were devoted to the study and discussion of his art in all its ramifications.

    Musical Portraits | Paul Rosenfeld
  • Construct a subtracting magic square with the first sixteen whole numbers that shall be "associated" by subtraction.

    Amusements in Mathematics | Henry Ernest Dudeney
  • Every reader will have perceived that certain whole numbers are evidently impossible.

    Amusements in Mathematics | Henry Ernest Dudeney
  • My remarks throughout must be understood to apply to whole numbers, because fractional soldiers are not of much use in war.

    Amusements in Mathematics | Henry Ernest Dudeney

British Dictionary definitions for whole number

whole number

noun
  1. an integer

  2. a natural number

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for whole number

whole number

  1. A member of the set of positive integers and zero.

  2. A positive integer.

  1. An integer.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.