who's

See also: whos

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• enPR: ho͞oz, IPA^(key): /huːz/
• Rhymes: -uːz
• enPR: hwo͞oz, IPA^(key): /ʍuːz/
• Homophones: whose, whos
• Rhymes: -uːz

Etymology 1

Contractions; who + 's.

Contraction

who's

1. Who is.

   Who’s that in my bed?

2. Who has.

   Who’s been sleeping in my bed?

3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Whom is.

   Synonym: (rare) whom's

4. (colloquial) Who (whom) does
   • 2014, James A. Michener, Texas, page 572:

     “Who’s he want to fight?” Martin asked, and the man said: “I’ve heard him twice. He wants to kick the Indians out of Texas. He wants to fight Santy Anny and whip him proper. And he wants us to take Santy Fay”.

Derived terms

• who's who

Etymology 2

From who +‎ -'s (possessive marker).

Determiner

who's

1. Misspelling of whose.

Anagrams

• Hows, Show, how's, hows, show