item

be an item

To be a romantic couple. I thought Luke and Andrea broke up—is it true that they're an item again?
See also: item

collector's item

An item that is especially noteworthy for its value, rarity, and/or history and would thus be prized by someone who collects such things. We went through my grandfather's attic and came upon a number of different collector's items, from rare toys to vintage rifles.
See also: item

hot item

1. Something that is selling very well. That toy has been a hot item in my store for months—I can barely keep it in stock!
2. A particularly passionate romantic couple. A: "Mike and Sue sure seem like a hot item these days." B: "I know, they can hardly keep their hands off each other!"
See also: hot, item
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

collector's item

An object of great interest, value, or rarity, as in This necklace is a collector's item. Originating in the early 1900s as collector's piece, a usage still common in Britain, the term in its present form is occasionally transferred to persons as well, as in The Beach Boys became a collector's item on the tour. [c. 1930]
See also: item
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

be an item

INFORMAL
If two people are an item, they are having a romantic or sexual relationship. She and Gino were an item.
See also: item
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

be an item

(of a couple) be involved in an established romantic or sexual relationship. informal
1997 Independent ‘It is fair to say they are an item but they are not engaged,’ said one of Mr Brown's closest confidantes.
See also: item
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

be an ˈitem

(informal) be involved in a romantic or sexual relationship: Are they an item?
See also: item
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

hot item

1. n. an item that sells well. This little thing is a hot item this season.
2. n. a romantically serious couple. Sam and Mary are quite a hot item lately.
See also: hot, item
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

big-ticket item, a

An expensive purchase; a large outlay. Ticket refers either to the price tag or to the banking term meaning a preliminary record of a transaction before it is posted in a permanent book of account. The term originated in the United States about 1940 and is a borderline cliché.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • be an item
  • trade in
  • trade (something) in for (something)
  • trade (something) in on (something)
  • change out of
  • change out of (something)
  • et seq.
  • be fresh out of
  • be fresh out of something
  • call again
References in periodicals archive
* Obtain all costs - the total cost of the item and the costs of material, labor and overhead should be determined and itemized, followed by an exhaustive cost comparison to find the cheapest alternative.
When officers elect to proceed based on an abandonment justification, they should preserve the facts upon which they concluded that the person previously in possession had surrendered privacy interest in the place, vehicle, or item searched.
NEXT WEEK--Papers relating to items you plan to act on next week.
Of the items ordered, some were peculiar to the trainer and would have to be manufactured by Gould; others, known as "buy-and-sell items,' could be bought at an ordinary hardware store.
First, an interest in another corporation or partnership; related liabilities incurred to acquire those interests; and any related items of income, deduction, or loss are excluded from the items attributable to a Section 987 QBU.
Old Law: No special deduction limitations applied for contributions of clothing and household items.
The Department plans to develop a new demand unique identifier (DUID), which will be used to distinguish how an item will be classified for financial reporting purposes.
Further exploration of the model was made by examining the wording of the items that loaded on the factors to determine whether the solution was justified by theoretical rationale.
It would be reasonable to assume that even with the increased training to detect explosive devices or explosive device components in carry on baggage, that some of these items could still make it past the TSA screening personnel.
Section 6015(c) allows a divorced or separated spouse who previously filed a joint return to calculate his or her deficiency based on the portion of incorrect items the spouse had generated, rather than holding each spouse liable for the entire deficiency under the joint and several liability rule.
Manipulating the presentation duration of an item and the instruction that follows an item may also vary elaboration and corresponding memory strength.
Given the preceding discussion, the first experiment was obviously limited in scope to a single item type, and while the simplified acquisition approach and government purchase card payment method offered savings, the administrative overhead savings applied only to single item type procurements.
According to the budgetary watchdog Citizens Against Government Waste, Congress this past year approved more than 10,600 "pork" items totaling nearly $23 billion--a 13 percent increase over the previous year--at a time when the federal deficit surpassed $422 billion and the national debt topped $7.5 trillion.
Results are presented in sections grouped by item. A section begins with a summary of what the scale indicates about undergraduates' views of a "typical" psychologist and where appropriate is followed by statistical analyses.
Rico's owner instructed him to fetch the item, using a name the dog hadn't previously heard.