look Definition
look (lo̵ok)
intransitive verb
- to make use of the sense of sight; see
- to direct one's eyes in order to see
- to direct one's attention mentally upon something
- to try to see or find something; search
- to appear to be; seem to look sick
- 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
- to direct one's eyes on to look someone in the face
- to express by one's looks, or appearance to look one's disgust
- Rare to bring to a certain condition by looking
- to have an appearance that is suitable for or in accord with the fat actor looked the part; you don't look your age
- to expect: with an infinitive object they look to succeed with our help
noun
- the act of looking; glance
- outward impression; appearance; aspect the look of a beggar
- Informal
- appearance; the way something seems to be from the looks of things
- personal appearance, esp. of a pleasing nature to have looks and youth
- direct your eyes and attention to this; see
- pay attention
look Idioms
it looks like
- it seems that there will be it looks like rain
- Informal it seems as if
look after
to take care of; watch over
look alive
or look sharpInformal 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- to regard as an inferior
- to regard with contempt; despise
look for
- to search or hunt for
- 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
- to be an observer or spectator
- 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
- to be wary about
- to take care of
look over
to examine; inspect
look to
- to take care of; give attention to
- to rely upon; resort to
- to look forward to; expect
look up
- to search for in a book of reference, etc.
- Informal to pay a visit to; call on
- Informal to get better; improve
look up and down
- to search everywhere
- 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
look Synonyms
look
n.
Appearance
appearance, aspect, looks, expression; see appearance 1, expression 4.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.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 Synonyms
look
v.
To appear
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
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.
- quick: I have had a quick look at it and it reminded me of his awesome presentation.
- in-depth: The discussion document will provide an in-depth look at the issues and backdrop that has led to the perception of risk aversion.
- fresh: In particular, it takes a fresh look at a number of familiar ideas including the problem of interference.
Adjective complement
- promising: With the team going from strength to strength, the season ahead looks extremely promising!
- good: Making the image look better on screen will probably make it look worse in print, the two media require different settings.
Followed by an intransitive particle
- around: Take some time to look around, or leave whenever you want.
- upon: Consequently, providers who support OpenURL may be looked upon more favorably by implementing institutions.
- out: Look out for our next issue in which we will focus on anxiety.
- down: She looked down with preoccupied eyes at the thin stream of water.
- over: I looked over at the window, feeling like a caged animal.
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.
- expand: My client provides translation and localisation services to companies looking to expand into new international markets.
Present participle complement
menace: Charlton were looking menacing themselves, however, especially down the right-hand side.
Preposition: in
mirror: I do not look in the mirror these days. At least not at 4.30 am.
Preposition: for
someone: You enemy the devil prowls around you like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Browse dictionary entries near look
- look after ›
- look-alike ›
- look for ›
- look-in ›
- look into ›
- look out ›
- look-say method ›
- look-see ›
- look up ›
- look up to ›

