Word.ws English Dictionary

it is and it isn't

it is and it isn't phrase: an answer in reply to a yes-no question, indicating there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer.

Phrase

it is and it isn't

  1. An answer in reply to a yes-no question, indicating there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer
    • Mr. JENNINGS. But if it is on the basis of handling it under a "with recourse" situation, that isn't affected by this bill.
      Mr. MIKVA. It is and it isn't.
      Mr. JENNINGS. It is from the standpoint of collection, you are right.1972, United States House Committee on the District of Columbia Hearings on Interest, Usury, and Consumer Credit, page 111
    • If you want to know how many people are taller than six feet tall, then you just pick people out at random, and you see that maybe forty of them are more than six feet so you guess that maybe everybody is. Sounds stupid. Well, it is and it isn't. If you pick the hundred out by seeing which ones...2009, Richard P. Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, page 84

Questions about it is and it isn't

What does it is and it isn't mean?
It is and it isn't means an answer in reply to a yes-no question, indicating there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer.
What part of speech is it is and it isn't?
It is and it isn't is a phrase.

Words near it is and it isn't in the dictionary

  1. it happens
  2. it happens to the best of us
  3. it is a wise child that knows his own father
  4. it is always darkest before the dawn
  5. it is always darkest just before the dawn
  6. it is and it isn't
  7. it is as it is
  8. it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive
  9. it is darkest before the dawn
  10. it is darkest just before the dawn
  11. it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it is and it isn't (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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