itself

*an end in itself

existing for its own sake; existing for no clear purpose. (*Typically: be ~; become ~.) For Bob, art is an end in itself. He doesn't hope to make any money from it. Learning is an end in itself. Knowledge does not have to have a practical application.

See also: end

*shadow of oneself and *a shadow of itself; *a shadow of one's former self

Fig. someone or something that is not as strong, healthy, full, or lively as before. (*Typically: be ~; become ~.) The sick man was a shadow of his former self. The abandoned mansion was merely a shadow of its old self.

See also: oneself, shadow

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

Prov. If the members of a group fight each other, the group will disintegrate. (Often the group under discussion is a family.) The leader of the newly formed union tried hard to reconcile the different factions within his organization, because he knew that a house divided against itself cannot stand.

See also: against, cannot, divided, house, stand

blow itself out

[for a storm or a tantrum] to lose strength and stop; to subside. (Fixed order.) The storm blew itself out. Eventually, the hurricane blew itself out.

See also: blow, out

by itself

with the help of nothing else; without the addition of anything else. Will this food be enough by itself for all of us? Can the dog get out of the house by itself?

History repeats itself.

Prov. The same kinds of events seem to happen over and over. It seems that history is about to repeat itself for that poor country; it is about to be invaded again. Alan: The country is headed for an economic depression. Jane: How do you know? Alan: History repeats itself. The conditions now are just like the conditions before the last major depression.

See also: history

in and of itself

considering it alone. The idea in and of itself is not bad, but the side issues introduce many difficulties. Her action, in and of itself, caused us no problem.

See also: and

lend oneself or itself to something

Fig. [for someone or something] to be adaptable to something; [for someone or something] to be useful for something. This room doesn't lend itself to bright colors. John doesn't lend himself to casual conversation. I don't think that this gown lends itself to outdoor occasions.

See also: lend, oneself

speak for itself and speak for themselves

[for something] not to need explaining; to have an obvious meaning. The facts speak for themselves. Tom is guilty. Your results speak for themselves. You need to work harder.

See also: speak

suggest itself to someone

[for an idea] to seem to present itself to someone. A new scheme suggested itself to Alice as she looked at the records of the last attempt. As you read this, does anything suggest itself to you?

See also: suggest

work itself out

[for a problem] to solve itself. Eventually, all the problems worked themselves out without any help from us. This will work itself out. Don't worry.

See also: out, work

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an end in itself

if an activity or action is an end in itself, it is important to you not because it will help you to achieve something else, but because you enjoy doing it or think that it is important Education should be an end in itself.

See also: end

speak for itself/themselves

if something speaks for itself, it does not need any explanation I'm not going to talk about our business successes. I think the report speaks for itself.

See also: speak

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an end in itself (slightly formal)

satisfying no other purpose than the enjoyment of doing it Memorizing facts can become an end in itself and not a way of understanding something.

See also: end

in and of itself

without considering anything else Any step we can take to end the conflict and save lives is important in and of itself.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form in and of themselves: Lower interest rates in and of themselves don't mean much for stock prices.

See also: and

lend itself to something

to be good for a particular use It was surprising how well her book lent itself to being turned into a film.

See also: lend