- it
- [[t]ɪt[/t]]pron. it,1) fun (used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):It was broken. You can't tell a book by its cover[/ex]2) fun (used to represent a person or animal understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned whose gender is unknown or disregarded):Who was it? It was John[/ex]3) fun (used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned):The judge told the jury it could recess[/ex]4) +sts (used to represent a concept or abstract idea understood or previously stated):It all started with Adam and Eve[/ex]5) fun (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[/ex]6) fun (used as the impersonal subject of the verb to be, esp. to refer to time, distance, or the weather):It is six o'clock. It was foggy[/ex]7) fun (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[/ex]8) fun (used in referring to something as the origin or cause of pain, pleasure, etc.):Where does it hurt?[/ex]9) fun (used in referring to a source not specifically named or described):It is said that love is blind[/ex]10) fun (used in referring to the general state of affairs or life in general):How's it going with you?[/ex]11) fun (used as an anticipatory subject or object to make a sentence more eloquent or suspenseful or to shift emphasis):It is necessary that you do your duty. It was a gun that he was carrying[/ex]12) (used in referring to a critical event that has finally happened or is about to happen):The lights went out. We thought, this is it![/ex]13) +inf Informal. (used instead of the pronoun its before a gerund or present participle):It having rained for only one hour didn't help the crops[/ex]14) gam (in children's games) the player who is to perform some task, as, in tag, the one who must catch the others15) cvb Slang.a) a desirable personal attributeb) sexual intercourse•Etymology: bef. 900; ME, var. of hit, OE, neut. of he I usage: See me
From formal English to slang. 2014.