who's whos

Noun

who's who (countable and uncountable, plural who's whos)

1. (capitalized, countable, sometimes) A publication containing biographies of well-known or important people.
   • Nearly every country has now a Who's Who, which gives a brief outline of the life and work of living men who have distinguished themselves in various ways.1914, The Everyman Encyclopædia
2. (countable) A list of notable, famous, or upper-class people.
   • In the growing who's who of Negro educators, the name of Cleo W. Blackburn, 45, ranks high.1954 November 22, “Education: Something for Cleo”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2011
3. (uncountable) Collectively, the elite class.
4. (countable) A person appearing in a Who's Who publication.
   • Sixty-one From Wisconsin Make Debut as Who's Whos [headline]:1942, Milwaukee Journal
5. (countable) A celebrity or famous person, someone likely to be in such a publication.
6. (idiomatic, uncountable) The identities of specific people, understood in terms of such distinguishing characteristics as their backgrounds, prominence, achievements, jobs, etc., as a basis for comparing them and especially as a basis for ranking them within a social group.
   • Mrs. Falconer cannot well avoid asking you to some of her entertainments, and it will be pleasant to you to know who's who beforehand.1814, Maria Edgeworth, chapter XXIII, in Patronage. […], volume II, London: […] [J. M‘Creery] for J[oseph] Johnson and Co., […], →OCLC, page 348