Which
[wɪtʃ]
Definition
(a.) Of what sort or kind; what; what a; who.
(a.) A interrogative pronoun, used both substantively and adjectively, and in direct and indirect questions, to ask for, or refer to, an individual person or thing among several of a class; as, which man is it? which woman was it? which is the house? he asked which route he should take; which is best, to live or to die? See the Note under What, pron., 1.
(pron.) A relative pronoun, used esp. in referring to an antecedent noun or clause, but sometimes with reference to what is specified or implied in a sentence, or to a following noun or clause (generally involving a reference, however, to something which has preceded). It is used in all numbers and genders, and was formerly used of persons.
(pron.) A compound relative or indefinite pronoun, standing for any one which, whichever, that which, those which, the . . . which, and the like; as, take which you will.
Checked by Horatio
Synonyms and Synonymous
pron. [1]. What one.[2]. That.
Editor: Whitney
Examples
- Investigation of these cases, however, revealed invariably the purely fraudulent nature of all such offers, which were uniformly declined. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The human watchdogs must be philosophers or lovers of learning which will make them gentle. Plato. The Republic.
- They have a kind of hard flints, which, by grinding against other stones, they form into instruments, that serve instead of wedges, axes, and hammers. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- Which of them had a step so quiet, a hand so gentle, but I should have heard or felt her, if she had approached or touched me in a day-sleep? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- His labors, however, were interrupt ed by the death of his assistant Flemming, and by his own illness, which proved fatal in 1846, a few months before the actual discovery of Neptune. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- That depends,' said Mrs. Bardell, approaching the duster very near to Mr. Pickwick's elbow which was planted on the table. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Permit me to mention one little instance, which, though it relates to myself, will not be quite uninteresting to you. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- But not so easily did Elinor recover from the alarm into which it had thrown her. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- By all which acquirements, I should be a living treasure of knowledge and wisdom, and certainly become the oracle of the nation. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- Mr. Bumble wiped from his forehead the perspiration which his walk had engendered, glanced complacently at the cocked hat, and smiled. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- They reached a curtained door, behind which sounded lovely music. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Which means, I suppose, that you are not quite clear about your case? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- We retired from the debate which had followed on his nomination: we, his nominators, mortified; he dispirited to excess. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Bois-Guilbert made an effort to suppress his rising scorn and indignation, the expression of which, he was well aware, would have little availed him. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- These good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Of the species which do change, only a few within the same country change at the same time; and all modifications are slowly effected. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The energy which had at once supported him under his old sufferings and aggravated their sharpness, had been gradually restored to him. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The large and powerful engines on the Great Western Railway have, however, only two driving wheels, which are 8 feet in diameter. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- From these ends is extended the spindle of Necessity, on which all the revolutions turn. Plato. The Republic.
- Miss Kate took out her sketch again, and Margaret watched her, while Mr. Brooke lay on the grass with a book, which he did not read. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Such is the process by which the youth passes from the necessary pleasures to the unnecessary. Plato. The Republic.
- A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Every vestige of the gentler thoughts which had filled her mind hardly a minute since seemed to be swept from it now. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- There are some points which are as dark as ever. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- It was the first, or among the first of locks which troubled modern burglars' picks. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- As the glare of day mellowed into twilight, we looked down upon a picture which is celebrated all over the world. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- This is the arm of which so much was heard during the recent war with Spain, and against which our soldiers had to contend. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- There was a cry and a rush to rescue, but the right hand which all this while had lain hidden in Moore's breast, reappearing, held out a pistol. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- On November 14, 1888, President Carnot opened the institution, which was soon to witness the triumphs of Roux, Yersin, Metchnikoff, and other disciples of Pasteur. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
Editor: Whitney