Whole= in one piece

[Crowned 91]

Hi! Can I say "I need them whole" to mean "I need them in one piece"?

 

[Jaskin]

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

In the right context - yes. It might depend on what them ​refers to and whether them can be described as whole.

Cheers

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, one might say that about chickens or fish, for example.

 

[emsr2d2]

It would work with things like nuts. We can buy, for example, whole cashews or cashew pieces. Pecans come whole or halved. Sesame seeds come whole or dehulled.

 

[Jaskin]

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker,

I find it intriguing that most of the given examples are culinary related. I myself first thought of mushrooms, garlic cloves, onions, but couldn't came up with anything else; can anybody think out of the kitchen box ?

Cheers.

 

[Barb_D]

I think it's hard to think of things that are NOT food that are both useful intact and useful in pieces.