3 PRON You use it to refer in a general way to a situation that you have just described. □ He was through with sports, not because he had to be but because he wanted it that way.
4 PRON You use it before certain nouns, adjectives, and verbs to introduce your feelings or point of view about a situation. □ It was nice to see Steve again. □ It seems that you are letting things get you down.
5 PRON You use it in passive clauses which report a situation or event. □ It has been said that stress causes cancer.
6 PRON You use it with some verbs that need a subject or object, although there is no noun that it refers to. □ Of course, as it turned out, three-fourths of the people in the group were psychiatrists.
7 PRON You use it as the subject of 'be', to say what the time, day, or date is. □ It's three o'clock in the morning. □ It was a Monday, so she was at home.
8 PRON You use it as the subject of a link verb to describe the weather, the light, or the temperature. □ It was very wet and windy the day I drove over the hill to Milland. □ It's getting dark. Let's go inside.
9 PRON You use it when you are telling someone who you are, or asking them who they are, especially at the beginning of a phone call. You also use it in statements and questions about the identity of other people. □ 'Who is it?' he called.—'It's your neighbor.' □ Hello Freddy, it's only me, Maxine.
10 PRON When you are emphasizing or drawing attention to something, you can put that thing immediately after it and a form of the verb 'be'. [EMPHASIS ] □ It was the country's rulers who devised this system.
11 PHRASE You use it in expressions such as it's not that or it's not simply that when you are giving a reason for something and are suggesting that there are several other reasons. □ It's not that I didn't want to be with my family.
12 if it wasn't for → see be ➋ USAGE it
Don’t use ‘it’ with a linking verb and a noun phrase to say that something exists or is present. Don’t say, for example, ‘
IT /a I ti ː/ IT is an abbreviation for information technology .
Ital|ian / I tæ liən/ (Italians )
1 ADJ Italian means belonging or relating to Italy, or to its people, language, or culture.
2 N‑COUNT An Italian is a person who comes from Italy.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Italian is the language spoken in Italy, and in parts of Switzerland.
ital|ic / I tæ l I k/ (italics )
1 N‑PLURAL Italics are letters which slope to the right. Italics are often used to emphasize a particular word or sentence. The examples in this dictionary are printed in italics.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Italic letters slope to the right. □ She addressed them by hand in her beautiful italic script.
itch / I tʃ/ (itches , itching , itched )
1 VERB When a part of your body itches , you have an unpleasant feeling on your skin that makes you want to scratch. □ [V ] When someone has hayfever, the eyes and nose will stream and itch. □ [V -ing] …dry, itching skin. ● N‑COUNT Itch is also a noun. □ Scratch my back–I've got an itch. ● itch|ing N‑UNCOUNT □ It may be that the itching is caused by contact with irritant material.
2 VERB [usu cont] If you are itching to do something, you are very eager or impatient to do it. [INFORMAL ] □ [V to-inf] I was itching to get involved and to bring my own theories into practice. □ [V + for ] The general was itching for a fight. ● N‑SING [usu N to-inf] Itch is also a noun. □ …viewers with an insatiable itch to switch channels.
itchy / I tʃi/ (itchier , itchiest )
1 ADJ If a part of your body or something you are wearing is itchy , you have an unpleasant feeling on your skin that makes you want to scratch. [INFORMAL ] □ …itchy, sore eyes.
2 PHRASE If you have itchy feet , you have a strong desire to leave a place and to travel. [INFORMAL ] □ The trip gave me itchy feet and I wanted to travel more.
it'd / I təd/
1 It'd is a spoken form of 'it would'. □ It'd be better for a place like this to remain closed.
2 It'd is a spoken form of 'it had', especially when 'had' is an auxiliary verb. □ Marcie was watching the news. It'd just started.
item ◆◆◇ /a I təm/ (items )
1 N‑COUNT An item is one of a collection or list of objects. □ The most valuable item on show will be a Picasso drawing.
2 → see also collector's item
3 N‑COUNT An item is one of a list of things for someone to do, deal with, or talk about. □ The other item on the agenda is the tour.
4 N‑COUNT An item is a report or article in a newspaper or magazine, or on television or radio. □ There was an item in the paper about him.
5 N‑SING If you say that two people are an item , you mean that they are having a romantic or sexual relationship. [INFORMAL ] □ She and Gino were an item. COLLOCATIONS item NOUN
1
noun + item : fashion, food, grocery, household; auction, novelty
adjective + item : essential, luxury, valuable; electrical; personal