What , interrog. adv. Why? For what
purpose? On what account?
[Obs.]
What should I tell
the answer of the knight.
Chaucer.
But what
do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates? What do I pick up so thriftily their scatterings
and diminishings of the meaner subject?
Milton.
What (?), n. Something; thing; stuff. [Obs.]
And gave him
for to feed,
Such homely what as serves the simple &?;lown.
Spenser.
What (?), pron., a., &
adv. [AS. hwæt, neuter of hwā who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries.
hwet, D. & LG. wat, G.
was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel.
hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. √182. See
Who.]
1. As an interrogative pronoun,
used in asking questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this? what did you say?
what poem is this? what child is lost?
What see'st thou in
the ground?
Shak. What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Ps. viii. 4.
What manner of man
is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him!
Matt. viii.
27. &fist; Originally, what,
when, where,
which, who, why, etc., were interrogatives
only, and it
is often difficult to determine whether they are used as interrogatives or relatives.
What in this sense, when it refers to things, may be
used either substantively or adjectively; when it refers to persons, it is used only
adjectively with a noun expressed, who being the pronoun used substantively.
2.
As an exclamatory word: --
(a) Used absolutely or independently; -- often
with a question following.
"What welcome be thou." Chaucer.
What, could ye not
watch with me one hour?
Matt. xxvi.
40. (b) Used adjectively, meaning
how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage!
What a piece of work
is man!
Shak. O what a riddle of absurdity!
Young. &fist; What in this use has
a or an between itself and its noun if the qualitative or quantitative importance of the object is
emphasized.
(c) Sometimes prefixed to
adjectives in an adverbial sense, as nearly equivalent to how; as, what happy boys!
What partial judges are our love and
hate!
Dryden.
3. As a relative pronoun:
--
(a) Used substantively with the antecedent suppressed, equivalent to that which, or those [persons] who, or those [things] which;
-- called a compound relative.
With joy beyond what victory bestows.
Cowper.
I'm thinking Captain Lawton will count the noses of what are left before they see their whaleboats.
Cooper. What followed was in perfect harmony with this beginning.
Macaulay. I know well . . . how little you will be disposed to criticise what comes to you
from me.
J. H. Newman. (b) Used adjectively, equivalent to the . . . which; the sort or
kind of . . . which; rarely, the . . . on, or at, which.
See what natures accompany what
colors.
Bacon.
To restrain
what power either the devil or any
earthly enemy hath to work
us woe.
Milton. We know what master laid thy keel,
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel.
Longfellow.
(c) Used adverbially in a sense corresponding to the adjectival use; as, he picked what good fruit he
saw.
4. Whatever; whatsoever; what thing soever; -- used indefinitely. "What after so befall." Chaucer.
Whether it were the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will, .
. . or what it was.
Bacon. 5. Used adverbially, in part; partly; somewhat; -- with a following preposition, especially, with, and commonly with repetition.
What for
lust [pleasure] and what for lore.
Chaucer. Thus, what with the war, what with the sweat, what with the gallows, and what with poverty, I am custom
shrunk.
Shak. The year before he had
so used the matter that what by force, what by policy, he
had taken from the Christians above thirty small castles.
Knolles. &fist; In such
phrases as I tell you what, what anticipates
the following statement, being elliptical
for what I
think, what it is, how
it is, etc. "I tell thee
what, corporal
Bardolph, I could tear her." Shak. Here what relates to the last clause, "I could tear her;" this is
what I tell
you.
What not is often used at the close of
an enumeration of several particulars or articles, it being an abbreviated clause, the verb of which, being either the same as that
of the principal clause or a general
word, as be, say, mention, enumerate, etc., is
omitted. "Men hunt, hawk, and what not." Becon. "Some dead puppy, or log,
orwhat not." C. Kingsley.
"Battles, tournaments, hunts, and what not." De Quincey. Hence, the words are often used in a
general sense with the force of a substantive, equivalent to anything you please, a miscellany, a variety, etc. From this arises the name whatnot, applied to an étagère, as being a piece of furniture intended for receiving miscellaneous articles of
use or ornament.
But what is used for but that, usually after a negative, and excludes everything contrary to the assertion in the following sentence. "Her needle is
not so absolutely perfect in tent and cross stitch but what my
superintendence is advisable." Sir W. Scott. "Never fear but what our kite shall fly as high."
Ld. Lytton.
What ho! an exclamation of calling. -- What if, what will it matter if; what will happen or be
the result if. "What if it be a poison?" Shak. -- What of this? that? it? etc., what follows from this, that, it, etc., often with the implication that it is of no consequence. "All this is so; but what of
this, my lord?" Shak. "The night is spent, why, what of that?" Shak. -- What
though, even granting
that; allowing that; supposing
it true that. "What though the rose have prickles, yet't is plucked." Shak. -- What time, or What time as, when. [Obs. or Archaic] "What time I am afraid, I will trust in
thee." Ps. lvi. 3.
What time the morn mysterious visions brings.
Pope.
Hear it pronounced