"who's" meaning in English

See who's in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Contraction

IPA: /huːz/, /ʍuːz/ Audio: en-us-who's.ogg [US]
enPR: ho͞oz, hwo͞oz Rhymes: -uːz, -uːz Etymology: Contractions; who + 's. Etymology templates: {{m|en|who}} who, {{m|en|'s}} 's Head templates: {{head|en|contraction|head=}} who's, {{en-cont}} who's
  1. Who is. Tags: contraction
    Sense id: en-who's-en-contraction-Ev45gsbC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -'s Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 44 4 41 8 3 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -'s: 35 8 33 15 9
  2. Who has. Tags: contraction
    Sense id: en-who's-en-contraction-JQeq9ipk
  3. Whom is. Tags: contraction Synonyms: whom's
    Sense id: en-who's-en-contraction-slzJnPAl Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -'s Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 44 4 41 8 3 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -'s: 35 8 33 15 9
  4. (colloquial) Who (whom) does Tags: colloquial, contraction Derived forms: who's who
    Sense id: en-who's-en-contraction-3tdizBrP Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -'s Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -'s: 35 8 33 15 9
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Determiner

IPA: /huːz/, /ʍuːz/ Audio: en-us-who's.ogg [US]
enPR: ho͞oz, hwo͞oz Rhymes: -uːz, -uːz Etymology: From who + -'s (possessive marker). Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|who|'s|pos2=possessive marker}} who + -'s (possessive marker) Head templates: {{head|en|misspelling}} who's
  1. Misspelling of whose. Tags: alt-of, misspelling Alternative form of: whose
    Sense id: en-who's-en-det-61vu0Lv7
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for who's meaning in English (3.9kB)

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "who"
      },
      "expansion": "who",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "'s"
      },
      "expansion": "'s",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Contractions; who + 's.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "en-cont"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 4 41 8 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 8 33 15 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -'s",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Who’s that in my bed?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who is."
      ],
      "id": "en-who's-en-contraction-Ev45gsbC",
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "is",
          "is"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Who’s been sleeping in my bed?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who has."
      ],
      "id": "en-who's-en-contraction-JQeq9ipk",
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "has",
          "has"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 4 41 8 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 8 33 15 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -'s",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Whom is."
      ],
      "id": "en-who's-en-contraction-slzJnPAl",
      "links": [
        [
          "Whom",
          "whom"
        ],
        [
          "is",
          "is"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "whom's"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 8 33 15 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -'s",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "25 25 3 47",
          "word": "who's who"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2014, James A. Michener, Texas, page 572",
          "text": "“Who’s he want to fight?” Martin asked, and the man said: “I’ve heard him twice. He wants to kick the Indians out of Texas. He wants to fight Santy Anny and whip him proper. And he wants us to take Santy Fay”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who (whom) does"
      ],
      "id": "en-who's-en-contraction-3tdizBrP",
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "whom",
          "whom"
        ],
        [
          "does",
          "does"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Who (whom) does"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "contraction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/huːz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʍuːz/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whose"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whos"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-who's.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg/En-us-who%27s.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ho͞oz"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "hwo͞oz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "who's"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "who",
        "3": "'s",
        "pos2": "possessive marker"
      },
      "expansion": "who + -'s (possessive marker)",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From who + -'s (possessive marker).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "misspelling"
      },
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "det",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "whose"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "Misspelling of whose."
      ],
      "id": "en-who's-en-det-61vu0Lv7",
      "links": [
        [
          "whose",
          "whose#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "misspelling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/huːz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʍuːz/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whose"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whos"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-who's.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg/En-us-who%27s.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ho͞oz"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "hwo͞oz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "who's"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English contractions",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English misspellings",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English terms suffixed with -'s",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Rhymes:English/uːz",
    "Rhymes:English/uːz/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "who's who"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "who"
      },
      "expansion": "who",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "'s"
      },
      "expansion": "'s",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Contractions; who + 's.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "en-cont"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Who’s that in my bed?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who is."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "is",
          "is"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Who’s been sleeping in my bed?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who has."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "has",
          "has"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Whom is."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Whom",
          "whom"
        ],
        [
          "is",
          "is"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "whom's"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contraction"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2014, James A. Michener, Texas, page 572",
          "text": "“Who’s he want to fight?” Martin asked, and the man said: “I’ve heard him twice. He wants to kick the Indians out of Texas. He wants to fight Santy Anny and whip him proper. And he wants us to take Santy Fay”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Who (whom) does"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Who",
          "who"
        ],
        [
          "whom",
          "whom"
        ],
        [
          "does",
          "does"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Who (whom) does"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "contraction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/huːz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʍuːz/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whose"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whos"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-who's.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg/En-us-who%27s.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ho͞oz"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "hwo͞oz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "who's"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English contractions",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English misspellings",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English terms suffixed with -'s",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Rhymes:English/uːz",
    "Rhymes:English/uːz/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "who",
        "3": "'s",
        "pos2": "possessive marker"
      },
      "expansion": "who + -'s (possessive marker)",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From who + -'s (possessive marker).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "misspelling"
      },
      "expansion": "who's",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "det",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "whose"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English misspellings"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Misspelling of whose."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "whose",
          "whose#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "misspelling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/huːz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʍuːz/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whose"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whos"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-who's.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg/En-us-who%27s.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/En-us-who%27s.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ho͞oz"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "hwo͞oz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "who's"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). 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.