what

Determiner

what

1. (interrogative) Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities.
   • What colour are you going to use?
   • What time is it?
2. (indirect, interrogative) Which.
   • I wonder what colour he is going to use.
   • I know what colour I am going to use.
3. (relative) Any ... that; all ... that; whatever.
   • He seems to have lost what sense he had.
   • What money I earn is soon spent.
4. Emphasises that something is noteworthy or remarkable in quality or degree, in either a good or bad way; may be used in combination with certain other determiners, especially 'a', less often 'some'.
   • This shows what beauty there is in nature.
   • You know what nonsense she talks.
   1. Used to form exclamations indicating that something is remarkable, in either a good or bad way.
      • What nonsense!
      • Wow! What a speech.

Pronoun

what

1. (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.
   • Hammer in that nail —What with? I didn't bring my set of tools.
   • What is your name?
2. (fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that.
   • He knows what he wants and what to do to get it.
   • What is amazing is his boundless energy.
3. (fused relative) Anything that; all that; whatever.
   • I will do what I can to help you.
   • What I'll do is, I'll phone you to let you know.
4. (dialectal, nonstandard, relative) That; which; who.
   • 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...1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, page 60

Adverb

what (not comparable)

1. (interrogative) In what way; to what extent.
   • What does it matter?
   • What do you care?
2. Used before a prepositional phrase to emphasise that something is taken into consideration as a cause or reason; usually used in combination with 'with' (see what with), and much less commonly with other prepositions.
   • In short; what by the indiscretion of people here, what by the rebound which came often back from London, what by the private interests and ambitious views of persons in the French court, and what by other causes unnecessary to be examined now, the most private transactions came to light [...]1787, Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Letters on the Study and Use of History: A Letter to Sir William Windham, page 83
   • The Chinese of all ranks, and in every place, received my books gladly, and listened with patience to what I had to say about the true God.—So that what from opportunities of attending to the object of my Mission among the Chinese—what from seasons of religious instruction to Dutch and English—what...1815, Rev. Mr. Milne, letter reprinted in The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Volume 23, page 82. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EPE6AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA82&dq=%22what+from%22

Interjection

1. An expression of surprise or disbelief.
   • What! That’s amazing!
   • wait this song is so good whattt
2. What do you want? An abrupt, usually unfriendly enquiry as to what a person desires.
   • What? I'm busy.
3. What did you say? I beg your pardon? This usage is often considered impolite, with the more polite "Pardon?" or "Excuse me?" preferred.
   • — Could I have some of those aarrrrrr mmmm ...
     — What?

   Synonyms:

   come again

4. Indicating a guess or approximation, or a pause to try to recall information.
   • I must have been, what, about five years old.

Noun

what (countable and uncountable, plural whats)

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Something; thing; stuff.
   • 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[…]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 7
2. (countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.
   • The emphasis on the interplay between the hows and whats of interpretive practice is paramount.2005, Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, page 493
3. (countable) Something that is addressed by what, as opposed to a person, addressed by who.
   • Regina: What are you?
   • Rumplestiltskin: What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question! I am not a what.2012, "We Are Both", season 2, episode 2 of Once Upon a Time

Particle

what

1. (Manglish, Singlish) Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener.
   • 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?
2. (Manglish, Singlish) 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”.
   • 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.

   Synonyms:

   mah

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

   Synonyms:

   leh