it

IT/ɪt/

20 meanings of it

1
thing mentionedpronoun
Used for a thing, idea, animal, or a baby, already mentioned or understood.
I lost my phone, and I can't find it anywhere.
Our dog is old, but it still loves long walks.
UsageWrite its to show that something belongs to it: its tail. It's means it is or it has.
2
idea comes laterpronoun
Used as a subject or object to stand for an idea that comes later in the same sentence.
It is fun to swim in the lake on hot days.
It is a shame that you missed the party.
UsageDo not drop it: say it is important to rest.
Note
3
time or weatherpronoun
Used as the subject of a sentence about time, weather, or how things are, when no real thing is meant.
It is raining again, so take an umbrella.
It was almost midnight when we got home.
UsageSay it's raining and it's late.
Note
4
fixed phrasespronoun
Used in many short fixed phrases without standing for any one thing.
We had no tent, so we roughed it under the stars.
The job is hard, but I'll stick it out until summer.
UsageLearn these as whole phrases: take it easy.
Note

Less common meanings

5
identifying someonepronoun
Used when you say or ask who someone is, for example on the phone.
Hi, Grandma, it's me, Sam!
Someone is at the door. Can you see who it is?
UsageSay it's me when you tell someone who you are.
6
that's allpronoun
Used to say that this is all, or the end, and there is no more.
Is that it, or is there more food in the kitchen?
That's it for today, class. See you tomorrow.
UsageSay that's it when there is nothing more.
7
game of tagnoun
In the game of tag, the player who runs after the others and tries to catch them.
I touched you, so now you're it!
Who wants to be it first?
UsageSay you're it to the one who must chase.
Note
8
special skillpronoun
A special quality, like talent or attractiveness, that makes someone stand out, as in 'she's still got it'.
Grandpa won the dance contest at eighty, so he's still got it.
Some singers have it, and some never will.
Note
9
sexpronoun
Used to mean sex when people do not want to say the word.
The teenagers in the film are nervous about doing it for the first time.
They decided to wait until they were married to do it.
UsageMostly in do it.
Note
10
fashionableadjectivecolloquial
The most popular and fashionable at the moment.
Everyone at school wants the it sneaker of the year.
That café is the it place for brunch this summer.
UsageUsed before a noun: the it bag everyone wants.
Similarhot, trendy, fashionable
Note
11
game of tagnounBritishuncountable
A game children play where one player chases the others and tries to catch them.
At break we played it until the bell rang, and I got caught three times.
The little ones ran round the field playing it, screaming whenever someone was caught.
UsageMost people call this game tag.
Similartag, tig
Note
12
pronounderogatoryoffensive
Used about a transgender or non-binary person, usually in a rude and hurtful way.
UsageUse the person's own pronoun, such as she, he, or they.
Note
13
any personpronounrare
Used for any person in general, not a particular one.
She had never seen that each human being was different, would react differently, had its own peculiar idiosyncrasies.
1959, Agatha Christie, Ordeal by InnocenceHere, its refers to any person, each human being in general.
Note
14
non-personnouncountable
A person or creature seen as neither a man nor a woman, or treated like a thing.
The cruel guards treated each prisoner as an it, not a person.
In the story, the monster under the bridge is only an it, with no name.
Similarthing, creature
Note
15
thing's owndeterminerobsolete
Used long ago in place of its, before a noun.
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionHere, it means its, belonging to it.
Note
16
pronounobsolete
Used in a loving way to talk about a person, often the one you are talking to.
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!
1905, The Harvard Monthly, volumes 39-40Here, it is a fond way of referring to the person being spoken to.
Note
17
pronounobsolete
Used long ago to mean what, or the thing that.
Note
18
pronoun
Used with is or was and a that or who part to show which part of a sentence matters most.
Like shining a flashlight on one part of a sentence.
It was Dad who cooked dinner last night, not Mom.
It is the red bike that I want, not the blue one.
UsageSay it was Ana who won to stress Ana.
Note
19
nouncolloquialuncountable
The right or good thing for a situation, used mostly in sentences with not.
The band tried a slower version of the song, but that just wasn't it.
She tried on five dresses, and none of them was it.
UsageOften used in this isn't it or this ain't it.
20
noun
In psychology, the hidden part of the mind that holds basic urges and instincts.

Practice

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Origin

From Old English hit, meaning "it." It comes from an old root meaning "this."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

English it derives from Old English hit, meaning "it." en.wiktionary.org
It ultimately derives from an old root meaning "this." en.wiktionary.org