Definition of "whose" in English

determiner

1. (interrogative) Of whom, belonging to whom; which person's or people's.

   • Whose (wallet) is this?
   • We should buy a house. ~ With whose money?
   • For whose benefit are you acting.?

2. (relative) Of whom, belonging to whom.

   • This is the man whose dog caused the accident.
   • Venus, whose sister is Serena, won the latest championship.
   • I dedicate this award to my parents, without whose help I wouldn't have made it this far.
   • The victim was a youngster, both of whose eyes were missing.
   • He asked whose the umbrella was.

3. (relative) Of which, belonging to which.

   • We saw several houses whose roofs were falling off.

pronoun

1. (interrogative) That or those of whom or belonging to whom.

   • Several people have lost their suitcases. Whose have you found?

2. (relative) That or those of whom or belonging to whom.

   • This car is blocking the way, but Mr Smith, whose it is, will be here shortly.
   • If he starts it on another man's lands, and kills it there, it belongs to the owner of the land; but if he start game on one man's lands, and pursue it to those of another, and kill it there, it is neither the property of the man on whose lands it is started, nor of him on whose it is killed, but belongs to the killer.
   • The notes on authors are extremely brilliant and incisive, not always in good perspective and sometimes freaky in their wit, as, for instance, the reference to Mrs. Holmes, of whose books it is said, "The secret of their long popularity has never been divulged by their readers," and Mrs. Harris, of whose it is said, "To a lively mind they should be conducive of profound sleep," which, whatever its faults, is by no means true of "Rutledge."

contraction

1. Misspelling of who's.