it
pronoun
(used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context).
Showing results for it.
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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned).
The judge told the jury it must decide two issues.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(used in referring to something as the origin or cause of pain, pleasure, etc.).
Where does it hurt?
It looks bad for the candidate.
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(used in referring to a source not specifically named or described).
It is said that love is blind.
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(used in referring to the general state of affairs, circumstances, fate, or life in general).
How's it going with you?
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(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.
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Informal. (used instead of the pronoun its before a gerund).
It having rained for only one hour didn't help the crops.
noun
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(in children's games) the player called upon to perform some task, such as, in tag, the one who must catch the other players.
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Slang.
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sex appeal.
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sexual intercourse.
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idioms
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get with it, to become active or interested.
He was warned to get with it or resign.
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with it,
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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.
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attentive or alert.
I'm just not with it early in the morning.
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understanding or appreciative of something.
Let's face it—when it comes to originality, Hollywood isn't really with it.
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Carnival Slang. being a member of the carnival.
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it is what it is. see it is what it is.
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it's not over till it's over. see it's not over till it's over.
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have it,
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to love someone.
She really has it bad for him.
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to possess the requisite abilities for something; be talented, adept, or proficient.
In this business you either have it or you don't.
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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
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refers to an unspecified or implied antecedent or to a previous or understood clause, phrase, etc
it is impossible
I knew it
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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
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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
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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
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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
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sexual intercourse
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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:
One way to picture it is to think of two maps showing the same landscape using different projections.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
However, it provided evidence that omega-3 might influence inflammatory processes involved in oral disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
The new study resolves many long-standing questions, but Scherz views it as the start of a much larger effort.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Accurately identifying species and understanding where they live are essential for measuring biodiversity and protecting it.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
To catch it, you must be part of the 5 percent of the population without immunity, and you must be in prolonged physical contact with someone who is sick.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It might seem that adding dimensions would make an already difficult problem even more complicated.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
It was startling at the time to hear those chants.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
It is part of a chain of interconnected Premier League deals before Tuesday's transfer deadline.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
It wasn’t clear if the police visit or the complaint were related to Kumar’s video.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
It could also be their new logo—a black fist that’s pumping in the air with a treble clef cut out in the center.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The issue of measuring AI’s ROI has been a persistent challenge for IT leaders, even nearly four years into the AI boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Sami is an IT manager, chauffeur and ticket reseller in addition to his social-media-influencer aspirations, which seem to be built around his proximity to famous faces.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 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
FOR ALL THAT, IT wasn’t until high school graduation that something happened that hadn’t occurred in years: Terryl cried.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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
“Supreme thinks I have It. You know, that thing that makes stars stars.”
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
"Museum collections are far more than archives of the past - they are essential scientific resources for understanding biodiversity today," said Dr. Alice Petzold of the University of Potsdam, who led the museomics work.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
First, the Talapin lab built on a previous discovery showing that molten salts could be used as the liquid medium in the process, helping stabilize nanocrystals as they formed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
"This directly explains the presence of bows, arrows, and maces in the women's tombs; these were not just symbolic gifts but tools they actively used."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Existing medications are often effective at controlling inflammation, but they generally do not cure the disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
They need permission, not only from the medical team at Carville, but from the health officers of every state they pass through.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Identifying them was not simple, however, because researchers had trouble matching older species names with the genetic lineages found in modern specimens.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Here's how I rated the players, and how you rated them.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Now the company has six months to update its apps, including limiting users under the age of 18 to two hours a day and blocking them from scrolling feeds overnight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Social media allowed them to be endlessly self-obsessed, without ever coming around to liking what they see.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
Many of them sleep crowded on the floor.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Mars has long been known to look very different across its two hemispheres.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Roman then opened its array of solar panels and sunshades, which power the craft and keep its sensitive instruments cool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Warner Bros.’ probable apprehension over how the film depicts corporations like its own is only one layer of this big, genetically modified cartoon onion.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
The telescope is named after physicist Nancy Grace Roman, who was Nasa's first chief astronomer in the 1960s and its first female executive.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
With this information, the government keeps track of the disease, hoping to prevent its spread.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
During the previous decade, they had received as many as eight targeted or biologic therapies, but none had controlled their disease adequately.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
"Many species spend most of their lives beneath the leaf litter, and even when they emerge they can look deceptively similar," he added.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
As crystals develop, their ions need enough freedom to rearrange before settling into their final positions.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
"Diamond frogs have been hiding their diversity beneath our feet," said Dr. Mark D. Scherz, Curator of Herpetology at the Natural History Museum Denmark and lead author of the study.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Many German, Italian, and Japanese citizens did not support the fascist practices of their governments.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“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
An 82-year-old retired doctor who recently lost his wife of nearly 60 years was struggling with whether to continue traveling, a passion of theirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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
She gained on them, however, involuntarily: the child’s pace was quick, and theirs rather slow; and she was the more concerned at it, from their being evidently in a conversation which interested them.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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.
