From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishas a wholeas a wholeALL/EVERYTHINGused to say that all the parts of something are being considered together This project will be of great benefit to the region as a whole. → whole
Examples from the Corpus
as a whole• I hope that this allocation reflects the wishes of the House as a whole.• They interact as wholes, not as bits.• I do not see it like that, and I am sure that the nation as a whole would not either.• But the divide on issues between Bush and the people as a whole remains spectacular.• The U.S. population, as a whole, is very mobile compared to other countries.• Capitalists were forced to concede the wage rises which for the system as a whole were needed to sustain accumulation.• We should also think about the problems of the world as a whole, which cause mass migration in the first place. 