look up
Britishverb
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(tr) to discover (something required to be known) by resorting to a work of reference, such as a dictionary
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(intr) to increase, as in quality or value
things are looking up
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to have respect (for)
I've always wanted a girlfriend I could look up to
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(tr) to visit or make contact with (a person)
I'll look you up when I'm in town
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Search for in a book or other source, as in I told her to look up the word in the dictionary . [Late 1600s]
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Call on or visit, as in I'm going to look up my friend in Chicago . [Mid-1800s]
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Become better, improve, as in Business is finally looking up . [c. 1800]
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look up to . Admire, respect, as in The students really looked up to Mr. Jones . [Early 1700s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rest of the band joins in as Ayewa calls for the listener to look up to a world above war, bitterness, and division.
From Los Angeles Times
It happens now, when he looks up to find that, once again, I can’t stop myself from staring at him, and he suddenly glances down at the hose in his hand.
From Literature
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The crowd on the porch doesn’t look up when we walk past them into the enormous entry way.
From Literature
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He looked up at the husky bear spirit with his kindest closed-lipped expression.
From Literature
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But Bastian lives by the Henry Ford line, and whether he’s looking up at the future Sky Villages or looking down for trash, he doesn’t see defeat — he sees unrealized potential.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.