it

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object,…

   The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.

   • Take this book and put it on the shelf.
   • Take each day as it comes.
   • I found a poor little cat. It seems to be half starving.
2. 2

   A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of…

   A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.

   • She took the baby and held it in her arms.
   • A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.
3. 3

   A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an unspecified person.

   • She had never seen that each human being was different, would react differently, had its own peculiar idiosyncrasies.
4. ›+ 28 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      An affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.

      • "[…] It's my belief that you don't know your own mind." "I don't, dear," said Hulda, nestling to him. "Why, what a puss it is!" cried Sir Philip, kissing her tenderly.
      • WILLIAM: You don't like me better? CLARA: Indeed I do. WILLIAM (laughing): Well, what a dear girl it is. CLARA (flinging her arms around his neck with suddenly disclosed passion): Oh, I do love you!
   2. 5

      A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is…

      A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or non-binary.

      • "Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it." "That seems pretty rude," I said nervously. "Not as rude as calling me a he or a she," it said.
   3. 6

      Refers to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.

      • It's me, John.
      • Somebody wanted a drink, didn't they? Who was it?
      • It is I, your king.
   4. 7

      The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or…

      The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement (known as the dummy pronoun, dummy it or weather it).

      • It is nearly 10 o’clock.
      • It’s 10:45.
      • It’s very cold today.
   5. 8

      The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied…

      The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions.

      • rough it
      • live it up
      • stick it out
   6. 9

      Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond physical appearance.

      • 'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walked down a street
      • And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.
   7. 10

      The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly,…

      The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.

      • It’s not worth talking to you.
      • It is easy to see how she would think that.
      • "I know now!" said I. "I have seen this in your face a long while." "No; have you really, my dear?" said he. "What a Dame Durden it is to read a face!"
   8. 11

      All or the end

      All or the end; something after which there is no more.

      • Are there more students in this class, or is this it?
      • That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
   9. 12

      Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun

      Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.

      • In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it [= it which] wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
   10. 13

       Its.

       • That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land.
   11. 14

       One who is neither a he nor a she

       One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.

       • Too often, children become an "it" in their homes and their humanness is devalued.
   12. 15

       The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.

       • In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
       • Tag, you're it!
       • When you play hi-spy, and are “it,” and want to know where the others have hid, take a stick and put it up on end and let it fall. If it falls three times in the same direction, that shows you the way to go to find the hiders.
   13. 16

       A game of tag.

       • Let's play it at breaktime.
   14. 17

       A desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.

       • Man, he's really got it.
       • She's the it girl, at least for this Fall.
   15. 18

       Something desirable or suitable.

       • Bro, that shirt is not it.
   16. 19

       Sexual intercourse.

       • OMG, they were doing it in the storage room.
   17. 20

       Sex appeal.

       • She really has it going on.
   18. 21

       Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”).

       • For Groddeck, the it is given, unknowable, and he does not try to conceptualize drives or forces. Early life and sexuality permeate […]
   19. 22

       Alternative letter-case form of It (“the id”).

       • […] thus reversing the roles of the I and the it, the former now occupying the place of the latter and vice versa. An awareness of our bisubjective nature (it and me) requires thus an I as a third term that slides between […]
   20. 23

       Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.

       • Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.
       • With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.
       • These Italian made sneakers quickly became an it shoe and the trend is not going anywhere any time soon!
   21. 24

       Initialism of information technology.

       • Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again? Ok. Well, are you sure that it's plugged in?
   22. 25

       Initialism of inclusive tour.

   23. 26

       Initialism of intercept-time method.

   24. 27

       Initialism of intrathecal.

   25. 28

       Alternative form of It.

       Alternative form of It.: abbreviation of Italy.

   26. 29

       A biological force that inhabits living beings, according to the vitalist approach of…

       A biological force that inhabits living beings, according to the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck.

       • Georg Groddeck believed in man's innate urge to symbolize. […] kind of defenses that interfere with the free creation of the It. But it would be wrong to call Groddeck an artist (which he was) as opposed to a clinical observer […]
       • […] between the Tao and Georg Groddeck's "It", in Durrell's view, compare for example Lawrence Durrell, "Studies in Genius: IV — Georg Groddeck," Horizon 17.102 (1948) : 392. And what of the It? Groddeck does not claim that […]
   27. 30

       The Id, in Freudian psychology.

       • I believe that Freud was mistaken when he made the It into an agency without accounting for how the unconscious portion of the I performs the executive functions of object choice for the drives and competing unconscious material […]
   28. 31

       Alternative letter-case form of it (“desirable quality

       Alternative letter-case form of it (“desirable quality; quality of being successful, fashionable, in vogue”).

       • After selling more than three million copies worldwide of their self- titled 2004 debut, and becoming the new It band, Franz Ferdinand lent songs to both commercials (including "Take Me Out" for Sony's PSP) and art-house porn ...
       • […] when I remember I can't admit that Bo and Brandon are my boyfriends. One Bellini brother would be okay. Two, apparently, makes me a little too PG-13 for the tweenies. The Bellini Brothers are the new It boy band, ...
       • People will often tell you that you shouldn't buy this season's It bag, dress, or whatever a celebrity has recently been photographed wearing because (a) you will be deemed to be a fashion victim, (b) everyone else will have it ...

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