Howadverb
(interrogative) To what degree.
‘How often do you practice?’;
Whatpronoun
(interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.
Howadverb
In what manner.
‘How do you solve this puzzle?’; ‘How else can we get this finished?’;
Whatpronoun
That; which; who.
Howadverb
In what state.
‘How are you?’; ‘How was your vacation?’;
Whatpronoun
That which; those that; the thing that.
‘He knows what he wants.’; ‘What goes up must come down.’; ‘Keep up with what your friends are doing.’;
Howadverb
Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation.
‘How very interesting!’; ‘How wonderful it was to receive your invitation.’;
Whatpronoun
Whatever.
‘I will do what I can to help you.’;
Hownoun
The means by which something is accomplished.
‘I am not interested in the why, but in the how.’;
Whatadverb
(usually followed by "with") In some manner or degree; in part; partly. See also what with
‘What with singing and joking, the time passed quickly.’;
Hownoun
(dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus.
Whatadverb
Such.
‘What a pity.’; ‘What a beautiful day!’;
Hownoun
(dialectal) A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.)
Whatadverb
(obsolete) Why?
Howconjunction
In which way; in such way.
‘I remember how to solve this puzzle.’;
Whatadverb
Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both…and.
Howconjunction
That, the fact that, the way that.
Whatadverb
(Singlish) lang=en used to contradict an assumption
Howinterjection
A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.
Whatinterjection
An expression of surprise or disbelief.
‘What! That’s amazing.’;
Howadverb
In what manner or way; by what means or process.
‘How can a man be born when he is old?’;
Whatinterjection
Response that enquires what the asker desires (usually said unhappily).
Howadverb
To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what proportion; by what measure or quality.
‘O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.’; ‘By how much they would diminish the present extent of the sea, so much they would impair the fertility, and fountains, and rivers of the earth.’;
Whatinterjection
clipping of what do you say?
‘It’s a nice day, what?’;
Howadverb
For what reason; from what cause.
‘How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?’;
Whatinterjection
What did you say? I beg your pardon?
Howadverb
In what state, condition, or plight.
‘How, and with what reproach, shall I return?’;
Whatdeterminer
Which; which kind of.
‘What shirt are you going to wear?’; ‘What time is it?’; ‘What kind of car is that?’;
Howadverb
By what name, designation, or title.
‘How art thou called?’;
Whatdeterminer
How much; how great (used in an exclamation).
‘What talent he has!’; ‘What a talent!’;
Howadverb
At what price; how dear.
‘How a score of ewes now?’; ‘Let me beg you - don't say "How?" for "What?"’;
Whatdeterminer
(relative) Whatever
‘Write down what things come into your mind.’;
Howadverb
to what extent or amount or degree;
‘how tall is she?’;
Whatnoun
Something; thing; stuff.
Howadverb
in what way or manner or by what means (`however' is sometimes used as an intensive form of `how');
‘how did you catch the snake?’; ‘he told us how he did it’; ‘however did you get here so soon?’;
Whatnoun
(countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.
Whatnoun
(countable) Something that is addressed by what, as opposed to a person, addressed by who.
What
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?’; ‘What is man, that thou art mindful of him?’; ‘What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!’;
What
As an exclamatory word: - (a) Used absolutely or independently; - often with a question following.
‘What, could ye not watch with me one hour?’;
What
Used adjectively, meaning how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage!
‘What a piece of work is man!’; ‘O what a riddle of absurdity!’;
What
As a relative pronoun
What
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!’;
What
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.’; ‘I'm thinking Captain Lawton will count the noses of what are left before they see their whaleboats.’; ‘What followed was in perfect harmony with this beginning.’; ‘I know well . . . how little you will be disposed to criticise what comes to you from me.’;
What
Whatever; whatsoever; what thing soever; - used indefinitely.
‘Whether it were the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will, . . . or what it was.’;
What
Used adjectively, equivalent to the . . . which; the sort or kind of . . . which; rarely, the . . . on, or at, which.
‘See what natures accompany what colors.’; ‘To restrain what power either the devil or any earthly enemy hath to work us woe.’; ‘We know what master laid thy keel,What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel.’;
What
Used adverbially, in part; partly; somewhat; - with a following preposition, especially, with, and commonly with repetition.
‘What for lust [pleasure] and what for lore.’; ‘Thus, what with the war, what with the sweat, what with the gallows, and what with poverty, I am custom shrunk.’; ‘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.’; ‘What time the morn mysterious visions brings.’;
What
Used adverbially in a sense corresponding to the adjectival use; as, he picked what good fruit he saw.
What
Why? For what purpose? On what account?
‘What should I tell the answer of the knight.’; ‘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?’;
Whatnoun
Something; thing; stuff.
‘And gave him for to feed,Such homely what as serves the simple lown.’;
Whatpronoun
asking for information specifying something
‘what is your name?’; ‘I'm not sure what you mean’;
Whatpronoun
asking for repetition of something not heard or confirmation of something not understood
‘what? I can't hear you’; ‘you did what?’;
Whatpronoun
the thing or things that (used in specifying something)
‘what we need is a commitment’;
Whatpronoun
(referring to the whole of an amount) whatever
‘I want to do what I can to make a difference’;
Whatpronoun
(in exclamations) emphasizing something surprising or remarkable
‘what some people do for a crust!’;
Whatdeterminer
asking for information specifying something
‘do you know what excuse he gave?’; ‘what time is it?’;
Whatdeterminer
(referring to the whole of an amount) whatever
‘he had been robbed of what little money he had’;
Whatdeterminer
(in exclamations) how great or remarkable
‘what a fool she was’; ‘what luck!’;
Whatadverb
to what extent?
‘what does it matter?’;
Whatadverb
used to indicate an estimate or approximation
‘see you, what, about four?’;
Whatadverb
used for emphasis or to invite agreement
‘pretty poor show, what?’;
