what

1. (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.Examples: "Hammer in that nail —What with? I didn't bring my set of tools."; "What is your name?"; "My kids set the neighbor's cat on fire. —They did what?"interrogative

2. (fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that.Examples: "He knows what he wants and what to do to get it."; "What is amazing is his boundless energy."; "And, what's even worse, I have to work on Sunday too."

3. (fused relative) Anything that; all that; whatever.Examples: "I will do what I can to help you."; "What I'll do is, I'll phone you to let you know."; "What is mine is yours."

4. (relative, nonstandard) That; which; who.Examples: "Look! It's that bloke again what was 'ere yesterday!"; ""I'll tell it ye from the beginning," he said. "My time is from ten at night to six in the morning. At eleven there was a fight at the 'White Hart'; but bar that all was quiet enough on the beat. At one o'clock it began to rain, and I met Harry Murcher—him who has the Holland Grove beat—and we stood together at the corner of Henrietta Street a-talkin'. Presently—maybe about two or a little after—I thought I would take a look round and see that all was right down the Brixton Road. It was precious dirty and lonely. Not a soul did I meet all the way down, though a cab or two went past me. I was a strollin' down, thinkin' between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same house. Now, I knew that them two houses in Lauriston Gardens was empty on account of him that owns them who won't have the drains seen to, though the very last tenant what lived in one of them died o' typhoid fever. I was knocked all in a heap therefore at seeing a light in the window, and I suspected as something was wrong. When I got to the door——""; "That’s her; that’s the thing what has stole his heart from me."nonstandardrelative

1. (interrogative) In what way; to what extent.Examples: "What does it matter?"; "What do you care?"; "It must be, what, twenty-five years since we first met."interrogativenot-comparable

1. (British, colloquial, dated) Clipping of what do you say?, used as a type of tag question to emphasise a statement and invite agreement, often rhetorically.Examples: "It’s a nice day, what?"; "“That’s riled them,” said my compaion. “Good work, what?”"; "Chuffy: WHAT? No, no, no, no, no. My casa is your casa, what?"Britishabbreviationalt-ofclippingcolloquialdated

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Something; thing; stuff.Examples: "They prayd him sit, and gave him for to feed / Such homely what as serves the simple clowne, / That doth despise the dainties of the towne[…]"obsoleteuncountable

2. (countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.Examples: "The emphasis on the interplay between the hows and whats of interpretive practice is paramount."countable

3. (countable) Something that is addressed by what, as opposed to a person, addressed by who.Examples: "2012, "We Are Both", season 2, episode 2 of Once Upon a Time Regina: What are you? Rumplestiltskin: What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question! I am not a what."countable

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener.Examples: "Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]"; "— Sian sia, nearby here don’t have library. — The National Library is a five-minute walk from here what, no meh?"; "Most things come from Europe what."ManglishSinglish

2. (Singlish, Manglish) Used to invite agreement or acknowledgment when something is assumed to be straightforward or already obvious to begin with; similar in function to “right?” and “as you know”.Examples: "Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]"; "If it doesn’t get sunlight, it won’t grow what, so you should consider moving it closer to the window."; "[…] like Joel you can just melee what. Melee your way through if you can’t handle them […]"Synonyms: mahManglishSinglish

3. (Singlish, Manglish) Used after a direct assertion to reinforce a disagreeing opinion.Examples: "Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]"; "The lava cakes are not that bad what."Synonyms: lehManglishSinglish