it
pronoun
(used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context).
it
1 American
[it]
/ ɪt /
pronoun
-
they,
plural nominative
-
them,
objective
-
its,
possessive
-
their,
possessive
-
theirs
possessive
-
(used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context).
It has whitewall tires and red upholstery.
You can't tell a book by its cover.
-
(used to represent an animal understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned whose sex is unknown or disregarded).
It was the largest shark ever caught off the Florida coast.
The horse had its saddle on.
-
(used to represent a person of previously unknown identity, in a sentence seeking, establishing, or commenting on their identity).
"I heard the phone ring—who was it?" "It was John."
Someone got hurt, but they think it was not the driver.
-
(used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned).
The judge told the jury it must decide two issues.
-
(used to represent a concept or abstract idea understood or previously stated).
It all started with my choice to walk out that door.
He has been taught to believe it all his life.
-
(used to represent an action or activity understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned).
Since you don't like it, you don't have to go skiing.
-
(used as the impersonal subject of the verb to be, especially to refer to time, distance, or the weather).
It is six o'clock.
It is five miles to town.
It was foggy.
-
(used in statements expressing an action, condition, fact, circumstance, or situation without reference to an agent).
If it weren't for Edna, I wouldn't go.
-
(used in referring to something as the origin or cause of pain, pleasure, etc.).
Where does it hurt?
It looks bad for the candidate.
-
(used in referring to a source not specifically named or described).
It is said that love is blind.
-
(used in referring to the general state of affairs, circumstances, fate, or life in general).
How's it going with you?
-
(used as an anticipatory subject or object in order to shift emphasis).
It is necessary that you do your duty.
It is I who should apologize.
It was a very kind thing he did there.
-
Informal. (used instead of the pronoun its before a gerund).
It having rained for only one hour didn't help the crops.
noun
-
(in children's games) the player called upon to perform some task, such as, in tag, the one who must catch the other players.
-
Slang.
-
sex appeal.
-
sexual intercourse.
-
idioms
-
get with it, to become active or interested.
He was warned to get with it or resign.
-
with it,
-
aware of the latest fads, fashions, etc.; up-to-date.
By grooving on teenage slang, the principal is trying to show us how with it she is, but the effect is something like seeing a mohawk on Grandma.
-
attentive or alert.
I'm just not with it early in the morning.
-
understanding or appreciative of something.
Let's face it—when it comes to originality, Hollywood isn't really with it.
-
Carnival Slang. being a member of the carnival.
-
-
it is what it is. see it is what it is.
-
it's not over till it's over. see it's not over till it's over.
-
have it,
-
to love someone.
She really has it bad for him.
-
to possess the requisite abilities for something; be talented, adept, or proficient.
In this business you either have it or you don't.
-
it
2
American
[it]
/ ɪt /
noun
British Informal.
It
3
American
abbreviation
IT
4
American
abbreviation
It.
5
American
abbreviation
-
Italian.
-
Italy.
it
1
British
/ ɪt /
pronoun
-
refers to a nonhuman, animal, plant, or inanimate thing, or sometimes to a small baby
it looks dangerous
give it a bone
-
refers to an unspecified or implied antecedent or to a previous or understood clause, phrase, etc
it is impossible
I knew it
-
used to represent human life or experience either in totality or in respect of the present situation
how's it going?
I've had it
to brazen it out
-
used as a formal subject (or object), referring to a following clause, phrase, or word
it helps to know the truth
I consider it dangerous to go on
-
used in the nominative as the formal grammatical subject of impersonal verbs. When it functions absolutely in such sentences, not referring to any previous or following clause or phrase, the context is nearly always a description of the environment or of some physical sensation
it is raining
it hurts
-
informal (used as complement with be) the crucial or ultimate point
the steering failed and I thought that was it
noun
-
(in children's games) the player whose turn it is to try to touch another Compare he 1
-
informal
-
sexual intercourse
-
sex appeal
-
-
informal a desirable quality or ability
he's really got it
It.
2
British
abbreviation
-
Italian
-
Italy
IT
3
British
abbreviation
it
4
British
abbreviation
it
More Idioms
Grammar
See me.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of it1
First recorded before 900; Middle English hit, hitte, it, Old English hit, neuter of he 1
Origin of it2
First recorded in 1930–35; It(alian vermouth)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yes, “Chronovisor” rewards on a massive scale for its relatively small structure, but viewers will have to work to get the most from it.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
World Cup years, in particular, have followed a remarkably clear pattern and recent editions have shown just how difficult it is to win the award without lifting a major global or continental tournament.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
It’s not time travel so much as it is tapping into a second sight.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
"The gravity hit me of what it meant to people and it took me by surprise," he reflects.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
When she first arrived with a few hundred prisoners, she thought it would only be weeks before the Americans rescued them.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It said grant funding for refurbishment came through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
It created a national authority capable of enforcing existing EU regulations, which had already formally come into force.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
It may also be connected to a reversal in the capital flows that helped fuel the semiconductor and AI trade following the market’s March selloff.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
It traded at roughly $2 recently, giving it a market cap of around $600 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
It started in the early nineteen hundreds, when they created a skin-care product called Gold & Honey.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“You can make the same argument for AI — they should be beneficiaries, because raw IT talent is very strong. It is a well-rounded economy overall,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Accordingly, the opportunity for error and other failure with this new IT system comparing a batch manifest with the new statewide list is high.”
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Nothing has changed in Italy over the 45 years I've been on this planet and nothing will," said Maurizio, a sandal-wearing IT worker who preferred to give only his first name.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
They are on a "collision course with their clients over the cost of giant IT projects, as companies look to AI to cut spending on external advisers".
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
There she meets Scott Hipwell, an independent IT contractor who is friendly with the restaurant manager, and the two of them hit it off.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
Over the counter, another sign cheekily warns: “Don’t Try It. You Won’t Like It.”
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
When the apartment finally went quiet, I opened my Notes app and typed: “You. Can. Have. It. All.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Its "See It. Say It. Sorted." campaign was launched in 2016 and then relaunched last year, encouraging the public to report "anything unusual", either to station staff or to British Transport Police.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
“Let. It. Go,” wrote The Sentinel on April 2 in an editorial, referring to the popular song from the Disney movie “Frozen.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
I added, “Neither do I. It. . . it just had to be.”
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Their images are disturbing, but not entirely scary; they don’t read like those of a horror film, but rather, a sight of some obsolete era of humanity.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Liam grabs Noel's hand and thrusts it into the air, they launch into the opening chords of Hello, and the crowd practically explodes with joy.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
As Béatrice moves further into a long-buried conspiracy, “Chronovisor” tests its audience’s nerve to see if they have what it takes to transport themselves into another dimension, another consciousness.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Whoever replaces Hughes - who has also taken two members of Liverpool's recruitment staff in Mark Burchill and Craig McKee to the Middle East - they will have plenty to address.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Hooke, they realize, was seeing empty cork cells because they were dead.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Jeremy Jacquet, Giovanni Leoni, Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Mor Talla Ndiaye have huge potential and the new sporting director may view Van Dijk as the perfect player for them to learn from.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
But it would have been more persuasive to those who oppose them to have insisted that data center companies reduce their disruptive noise and improve their design.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
The company had discontinued its Sausage Wrap Rolls in 2021, replacing them with sausage pinwheels, and people were furious.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Brighton duo Royal Blood will close out this year's sessions on 30 October, but a surprise artist, who will perform just before them, is still to be announced.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
I look about our small camp—Belle and Midnight tied side by side; Father and Caesar, the fire between them, sitting across from each other.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The filmmakers don’t guide you into this world so much as they grab you by the hand and yank you into its maze while you’re still deciding whether or not you want to enter.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
The company said in its filing on Friday that since 2020, it had "overhauled" its privacy practices to help meet the "unique needs of its community".
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Micron stock could continue its recent momentum in the run up to its earnings on Sept. 30.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
She witnessed its handover to Panama in 1999 and rose through the authority’s ranks, eventually overseeing a massive project to widen the waterway to accommodate larger ships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
And that system can change its mind at any given moment.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The majority of the film’s narrative is communicated through on-screen text — translations of archival material, superimposed in English over their original printed matter.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Iraola appointed Alisson one of his vice-captains and the 33-year-old has started in all three of their league games so far.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Is it a sight of pure, inhumane evil, or do their blank expressions merely reflect a corruption that can still be reversed?
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
That said, if you attended any of the Oasis '25 shows, this is an incredible souvenir of all the tear-soaked euphoria and musical communion that accompanied their comeback.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Throughout 1941, Father Monaghan watches warily as the Americans expand their military bases and build new ones.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
And here, Walker and Auen offer theirs, fashioning academia into a key that opens a portal to the past, present and future.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
I don’t have one, and I’d be careful with anyone selling you theirs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Ballots are an extension of our voices and we’re asking the court to ensure that every person has the right to make theirs heard.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
They likely won’t be too pleased if Nvidia also uses its chips to create and deploy cheaper open-weight models that compete with theirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Her simple tunic was identical to theirs, gray and hemmed just below the knee.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
