look Hear it!

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look definition

look (lo̵ok)

intransitive verb

  1. to make use of the sense of sight; see
    1. to direct one's eyes in order to see
    2. to direct one's attention mentally upon something
  3. to try to see or find something; search
  4. to appear to be; seem to look sick
  5. to be facing or turned in a specified direction

Etymology: ME loken < OE locian, akin to OS lōkōn, OHG luogēn (Ger dial. lugen), to spy after, look for

transitive verb

  1. to direct one's eyes on to look someone in the face
  2. to express by one's looks, or appearance to look one's disgust
  3. Rare to bring to a certain condition by looking
  4. to have an appearance that is suitable for or in accord with the fat actor looked the part; you don't look your age
  5. to expect: with an infinitive object they look to succeed with our help

noun

  1. the act of looking; glance
  2. outward impression; appearance; aspect the look of a beggar
  3. Informal
    1. appearance; the way something seems to be from the looks of things
    2. personal appearance, esp. of a pleasing nature to have looks and youth

interjection

  1. direct your eyes and attention to this; see
  2. pay attention
look Idioms

it looks like

  1. it seems that there will be it looks like rain
  2. Informal it seems as if

look after

to take care of; watch over

look alive

or look sharp
Informal to be alert; act or move quickly: usually in the imperative

look back

to recall the past; recollect

look down on

or look down upon
  1. to regard as an inferior
  2. to regard with contempt; despise

look for

  1. to search or hunt for
  2. to expect; anticipate

look forward to

to anticipate, esp. eagerly

look in (on)

to pay a brief visit (to)

look into

to examine carefully; investigate

look on

  1. to be an observer or spectator
  2. to consider; regard (as) they looked on her as a born leader

look (like) oneself

to appear to be in normal health, spirits, etc.

look out

to be on the watch; be careful

look out for

  1. to be wary about
  2. to take care of

look over

to examine; inspect

look to

  1. to take care of; give attention to
  2. to rely upon; resort to
  3. to look forward to; expect

look up

  1. to search for in a book of reference, etc.
  2. Informal to pay a visit to; call on
  3. Informal to get better; improve

look up and down

  1. to search everywhere
  2. to examine with an appraising eye; scrutinize

look upon

to think of (as); consider to look upon housework as boring

look up to

to regard with great respect

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms look idiom

look Synonyms

look

n.

  1. Appearance

    appearance, aspect, looks, expression; see appearance 1, expression 4.

  2. An effort to see

    gaze, stare, scrutiny, inspection, contemplation, visual search, reconnaissance, introspection, speculation, attending, noticing, regarding, marking, observation, keeping watch, once-over*, look see*, gander; see also attention 1, examination 1.

  3. A quick use of the eyes

    glance, quick cast of the eyes, survey, squint, glimpse, peek, peep, twinkle of an eye, coup d'oeil (French), leer, flash, peekaboo*, the eye*. See syn. study at appearance.appearance.


look

v.

  1. To appear

    seem to be, look like, resemble; see seem.

  2. To endeavor to see

    view, gaze, glance, scan, stare, behold, contemplate, watch, survey, scrutinize, regard, inspect, discern, spy, observe, attend, examine, mark, gape, turn the eyes upon, give attention, peer, ogle, have an eye on, study, peep, look on, look at, look upon, look through, cock the eye*, take a gander at*, get a load of*; see also see 1.

it looks like

probably, it seems that there will be, it seems as if; see seem.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

look Usage Examples

Object

  • bit: They wanted the bridge to look a little bit like the old bridge.

Converse of object

  • take: Why not take a look at the Chinese New Year Story?

Preposition: at

  • verse: Look at verse 38: " Peter replied [ to the question ' what shall we do?

Adjective modifier

  • close: Best of all another pair of White-cheeked Cotingas are found allowing the whole group to get closer looks.

Adjective complement

  • promising: With the team going from strength to strength, the season ahead looks extremely promising!

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • around: Take some time to look around, or leave whenever you want.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • around: Dips, shame on you - you need to look around a bit more - no touching tho!

Infinitive complement

  • recruit: We are looking to recruit experienced telesales people to sell local community advertising on behalf of our AboutMyArea community website franchisees.

Present participle complement

  • menace: Charlton were looking menacing themselves, however, especially down the right-hand side.

Preposition: for

  • someone: You enemy the devil prowls around you like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
look usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

look quotes

I bowl so slow that if after I have delivered the ball and don't like the lookof it,I can run after it and bring it back.

-Barrie, SirJ(ames) M(atthew)

I saw corpses, and grew used to their unimportant look, for a dead man without any of the panoply of death is a desperately insignificant object.

-Davies, Robertson

Look thy last on all things lovely, Every hour. Let no night Seal thy sense in deathly slumber Till to delight Thou have paid thy utmost blessing.

-de la Mare,Walter

look quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"look." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/look>

APA Style

look. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/look

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