"a whole nother" meaning in English

See a whole nother in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Determiner

IPA: /ə ˈhəʊl ˌnʌðə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-a whole nother.wav
Etymology: From a + whole + nother (“different, other”). Whole has been inserted by tmesis, while nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”). Etymology templates: {{glossary|tmesis}} tmesis, {{glossary|rebracketed}} rebracketed, {{cog|enm||þe toþer|the other}} Middle English þe toþer (“the other”), {{sup|2}} ², {{sup|2}} ² Head templates: {{head|en|determiner|head=}} a whole nother, {{en-det}} a whole nother
  1. (US, informal) An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other. Tags: US, informal Synonyms: a whole 'nother

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "From a + whole + nother (“different, other”). Whole has been inserted by tmesis, while nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”).",
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          "parents": [],
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          "ref": "1887 October 29, [Mary Louisa] Molesworth, “The Mysterious Guide: A Story of a London Fog”, in [Charles Peters], editor, The Girl’s Own Paper, volume IX, number 409, London: “The Leisure Hour” Office, →OCLC, page 67, column 3:",
          "text": "\"Will the fog be gone by to-morrow morning?\" said Patty, disconsolately. \"I don't know what we shall do if we have to be a whole 'nother day in the house and in the dark.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1992, Thulani Davis, chapter 6, in 1959 […], New York, N.Y.: Grove Weidenfeld, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 282:",
          "text": "It's a whole nother bunch of folks over beyond the trees 'cross the tracks.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1998, Gayl Jones, chapter 1, in The Healing, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN, page 18:",
          "text": "They say she look like she have a turtle shell on her back and the healing woman healed that. But that's a whole nother story.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2004, Michael W. Dean, quoting Henry Rollins, “Interviews”, in $30 Music School, Boston, Mass.: Muska & Lipman, Course Technology, →ISBN, page 457:",
          "text": "The problem is when you physically try to impede my progress—then it moves up to a whole 'nother level that you probably can't handle me on. If it's just words, mean little things, I'm not [Joseph] Stalin, say what you want. Get in my way, it's a whole 'nother thing.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2004, Margo Lanagan, “Rite of Spring”, in Black Juice, London: Gollancz, published 2007, →ISBN, page 195:",
          "text": "The breeze taps my face with a robe-corner. A lazy blueness, from a whole nother age, is spread all above me.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2009 October 1, Don Chaikin, “Long-Term Test Cars: Azera, Sedon M35, Highlander Hybrid, Liberty Sport CRD, Cobalt SS”, in Jim Meigs, editor, Popular Mechanics, New York, N.Y.: The Hearst Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-10-01:",
          "text": "Executing it all well, with the feel, look and operation of a real luxury car, is a whole nother ball of wax.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other."
      ],
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          "form#Noun"
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          "entirely",
          "entirely"
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        "(US, informal) An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other."
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  "word": "a whole nother"
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  "etymology_text": "From a + whole + nother (“different, other”). Whole has been inserted by tmesis, while nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”).",
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          "ref": "1887 October 29, [Mary Louisa] Molesworth, “The Mysterious Guide: A Story of a London Fog”, in [Charles Peters], editor, The Girl’s Own Paper, volume IX, number 409, London: “The Leisure Hour” Office, →OCLC, page 67, column 3:",
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          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1992, Thulani Davis, chapter 6, in 1959 […], New York, N.Y.: Grove Weidenfeld, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 282:",
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          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1998, Gayl Jones, chapter 1, in The Healing, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN, page 18:",
          "text": "They say she look like she have a turtle shell on her back and the healing woman healed that. But that's a whole nother story.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2004, Michael W. Dean, quoting Henry Rollins, “Interviews”, in $30 Music School, Boston, Mass.: Muska & Lipman, Course Technology, →ISBN, page 457:",
          "text": "The problem is when you physically try to impede my progress—then it moves up to a whole 'nother level that you probably can't handle me on. If it's just words, mean little things, I'm not [Joseph] Stalin, say what you want. Get in my way, it's a whole 'nother thing.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2004, Margo Lanagan, “Rite of Spring”, in Black Juice, London: Gollancz, published 2007, →ISBN, page 195:",
          "text": "The breeze taps my face with a robe-corner. A lazy blueness, from a whole nother age, is spread all above me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009 October 1, Don Chaikin, “Long-Term Test Cars: Azera, Sedon M35, Highlander Hybrid, Liberty Sport CRD, Cobalt SS”, in Jim Meigs, editor, Popular Mechanics, New York, N.Y.: The Hearst Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-10-01:",
          "text": "Executing it all well, with the feel, look and operation of a real luxury car, is a whole nother ball of wax.",
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        "An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other."
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        "(US, informal) An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other."
      ],
      "tags": [
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      "word": "a whole 'nother"
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}

Download raw JSONL data for a whole nother meaning in English (4.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.