the whole while en · NOUN
Meanings
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(of duration, uncountable) Always; constantly, all the time; (for) the complete duration.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:the whole while.
Where had Hans come from? He had on a pair of worn leather shorts and hiking boots. His shirt showed stains of sweat. Maybe he had just wandered by at the right time . . . or maybe he had been here the whole while, watching.
2012, Ginny Powers, The Legend of Black Lake, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 103:"Anyway, after fifty years, what's a few more months?" "So you've been here the whole while? You never thought of going home?" "Oh, at first I did, but there was really no way to do it. I didn't bring a boat the way you folks did,[…]"
2000, Leo Frankowski, The Fata Morgana, Baen Publishing Enterprises, →ISBN:I now realise, after years as a minister, that what I have been the whole while was a sort of semi-socialist. Now I realise that we've got to try to hand back more decisions to the people. When he came into office in 1970, Mr Heath seemed […]
1975, The Listener:A high hot color has risen into her cheeks. “Mr. Lamb—do you, would you—could you mind him while I take Jeremy to Dr. Faber's?” She says this, Norris thinks, as though he has not been here the whole while, listening to matters develop.
1999, Carrie Brown, Lamb in Love: A Novel, Algonquin Books, →ISBN, page 193:
Translations (25)
nn alltid (always) · ka მუდამ (always) · wa tofer (always) · pt o tempo todo (always) · de immer (always) · sv jämt (always) · fi koko ajan (always) · sv ständigt (always) · nb alltid (always) · gl todo o tempo (always) · wa toltins (always) · it sempre (always) · mk везден (always) · ru всё вре́мя (always) · es todo el tiempo (always) · pt o tempo inteiro (always) · sv hela tiden (always) · nb hele tiden (always) · lv arvien vēl (always) · nn heile tida (always) · lv visu laiku (always) · nv tʼáá áłahjįʼ (always) · fr tout le temps (always) · mk цело време (always) · wa todi (always)