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:
YouTube is tightening eligibility requirements for its Partner Program, making it more difficult for creators to earn a cut of the ad revenue generated by their content.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Although the hippocampus is not the only brain region involved in depression, its influence over both memory and emotion has made it an important area of study.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Lego reported record sales for the first half of the year as it launched hundreds of new products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
By following the ice island as it moves and gradually fragments, scientists hope to learn more about the behavior of large Arctic ice islands and the forces driving the continuing evolution of Petermann Glacier.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Someone unloaded the passengers’ luggage on the dock, but most of it has been stolen.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It followed up with a new statement attributed to CEO Chip Brewer in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
It is also one of the few areas of the adult brain that continues to generate new neurons.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
It asks about their experiences with local wildlife, how they get involved with local nature, and their attitudes towards conservation, climate change and environmental projects.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
It places the enormous variety of animal genome structures onto a single map.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
It feels nice not to be the only one there.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“Why is IT and the administration controlling how I teach successful writing instruction?”
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
Having consulted with the CPS, they subsequently closed the investigation after deciding the cost was not justified when considering the lengthy prison sentence already being served by the IT expert.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Chandra said that his previous experience overseeing IT at Lucid, including its role in design, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, has prepared him for the new role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The sum total of its response to the 2023 threat was to provide some common-sense IT advice, which promptly went unfollowed in many quarters.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
IT was time for Sancho to go to the island, and the Duke asked him to get ready.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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
Municipalities are working to this end, with programs such as New York City’s $2 million “Trash It. Don’t Flush It” public awareness campaign.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2019
"I don't know how you can even look at It. You don't even flinch."
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
“I think with content creators in general, they post differently than your normal advertising agency…It’s just getting that mindset and training teams to understand that we’ve got to think a little bit differently now.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Solid tumors, however, have remained much more difficult to treat because they are harder for immune cells to enter and can release signals that weaken nearby immune defenses.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Speaking outside the High Court on Tuesday, Allister said: "The whole commission should resign. Caught out they should bow out."
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
"These two tissue-resident natural killer cell populations look very similar, and they have some of the same requirements, but their function seems to be on opposite ends of the spectrum," Sunwoo said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
According to the rules they establish, Joey is allowed to travel to Texas—and only Texas.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“This is a horrible look for them and for Callaway. Wildly disappointing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Humans are natural explorers, and with them come their voices, their memories … and their microbes," said Prabal Saxena, a planetary scientist who led the study from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it firmly opposed the sanctions, calling them illegal.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Much less populous Iowa pursued 16,279 estates and recovered $25 million from 3,397 of them.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
“You one of them little high school girls that be following Ford around?” she says before going back to her book.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The brand added it is conducting internal and external investigations and making changes to its approval processes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Dupont and her colleagues hope that depression could eventually be classified according to its molecular characteristics, much as cancer increasingly is today.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
This is the first time SWT has run its own survey, although it has previously gathered local responses as part of the nationwide The Great Big Nature Survey.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
YouTube is tightening eligibility requirements for its Partner Program, making it more difficult for creators to earn a cut of the ad revenue generated by their content.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“I’m not leaving here until I win one of those green lizards. Did you see it? The one with the row of spikes down its back, that’s as tall as me?”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
But TIPS, through their inflation protection, mitigate some of the risk of lending to Uncle Sam if he turns reckless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The researchers adjusted their analysis to account for these factors and found that they did not fully explain the association.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
And, with bond yields at their highest in nearly two decades, that interest burden is almost sure to balloon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
A human, an octopus, and a coral may appear to have almost nothing in common, but their chromosomes still contain recognizable fragments inherited from an animal ancestor that lived more than 600 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Confession is one of the most important sacraments of the Catholic Church—a holy moment in which people can repent their wrongs.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Perhaps to their point, you aren’t burdened by your own children — don’t allow yourself to be burdened by theirs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Since that $26 million refusal, Bare and Huddleston, two self-described “country hicks,” have become polarizing heroes of the rural campaign against the AI technology rewiring geopolitics, the economy—and now hometowns like theirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“We have the ability to accept costs because our resources are great. Iran does not, because theirs are few,” said Barry Posen, a political science professor at MIT.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
France has seen its worst fires in two decades, while officials in the Spanish capital Madrid say theirs are the worst the region has ever experienced.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
But Perseus spoke out and told them he had taken it and that it would be theirs again only when they showed him how to find the nymphs of the North.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
