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:
In a show that inevitably can seem dated — Lorelai and Rory watch it, ironically, in an episode of “Gilmore Girls” — Fabares reads as unusually modern.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
And it is in the top three for 45 of the 50 American states, suggesting Prime Minister Mark Carney has room to manoeuvre in a trade fight.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Her investments multiplied so fast—and vanished so quickly—it felt “like it was all a dream,” Lee said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The company is expected to fetch a valuation well above the $11 billion valuation it fetched in a funding round last year, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Joey imagines what it would be like to hear Brahms, her favorite.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It offered any American with a major brokerage account access to Samsung and SK Hynix, which together composed almost half the fund’s value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
It took Joao Pedro just 31 seconds to open the scoring, latching on to a pass from Palmer and lifting his shot over Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno for Chelsea's fastest goal since October 2016.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
It boasts of amenities including a resort-style pool, hot tub, cold plunge, tennis court and 5,000-bottle wine cellar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It is here that the clock is working against the government.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
“Argh! For the last time, stop thinking of it as a power. That’s how you got into all this mess in the first place. It is a gift that was given to our family.”
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
Telling a colleague that the software was too anonymous and complex for me, he suggested that I “pay an IT guy to do it.”
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"But if we were to accept this increase it would double our IT spend for the year, which is completely unaffordable."
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The family behind Lodge has no interest in relinquishing ownership of the company, said Lodge Chairman Jay Daniel, a fifth-generation family member and founder of an IT company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
I’m hanging a poster outside the metal-shop room when IT creeps up.
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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
“These types of visas are issued with a clear understanding that they are for those who intend to return home,” Pigott said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
A weekend poll from Angus Reid indicated that some 76% of Canadians support Ottawa's decision to walk away from trade negotiations even as they worry for their own job security.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Communication is one of them: Data on what people are writing and how they are working are becoming extremely valuable to companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"If they are standing there, we cannot fill water. We have to wait until they leave," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Once they were adequately charmed, she kindly asked if she could enter the camp and give food to the prisoners.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Communication is one of them: Data on what people are writing and how they are working are becoming extremely valuable to companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"It is a bizarre policy for Americans. It's going to hurt them."
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Approval of new single-stock leveraged products has been put on hold, and a mandatory cash deposit required to trade them was tripled to roughly $21,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
As he guides them, Chen declares: "If you are not needed by the world of AI and robotics, then you'll definitely be among those eliminated".
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
There wasn’t enough staff, food, or medicine to adequately care for any of them.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
What leverage does Canada, which sells about 70% of its goods to the US, actually have in this spiralling trade dispute with its southern neighbour, who also happens to be the world's largest economy?
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Amazon has said it would consider relocating its warehouses if it passes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
It is also at the centre of growing tensions between its neighbours Israel and Turkey.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Artificial-intelligence giant Anthropic could raise even more in its expected offering, which is being teased to investors now alongside a bevy of smaller listings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
I stare into it, see a frog watching us from its hiding spot between the reeds before it plops back down to hide under the surface of the water.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Experts have previously warned that he and Chancellor John Healey will have little financial room to manoeuvre in their first Budget on 28 October.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
While others were perfecting their sourdough loaves or getting into bird-watching during the pandemic, Facundo Monteiro Kempf, a 35-year-old who works in cybersecurity for Microsoft, was memorizing Burgundian vineyard classifications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
A weekend poll from Angus Reid indicated that some 76% of Canadians support Ottawa's decision to walk away from trade negotiations even as they worry for their own job security.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
By the end of 2021, two-thirds of the companies that went public in the U.S. that year were trading below their IPO prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
When she ran away to marry Hans, for example, she’d had to escape the watchful eye of her father, sneak off on foot, and swim half a mile to their rendezvous point.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“My whole thing is: When you use generative AI to come up with ideas, people forget what ideas were theirs and what ideas were the computer’s,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
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
Helen Richardson-Walsh knew Olympic gold was theirs while observing the Dutch players' behaviour in the tunnel before the game.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
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. 17, 2026
Tía Mazal leads me to the bed that I will share with her, and Tío Yehuda leads Isaac and Jacob to theirs.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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.
