look-down
noun
the appearance of paper when inspected under reflected light.
look-down
American
[look-daun]
/ ˈlʊkˌdaʊn /
noun
look down
British
verb
-
(intr, adverb; foll by on or upon) to express or show contempt or disdain (for)
-
informal to be contemptuous or disdainful of
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.
See Examples For:
McKenzie said the F-22s would provide the UAE with "one of the best look-down radars in the world," capable of identifying targets including land attack cruise missiles and drones.
From Reuters ● Feb. 6, 2022
For as long as music exists and the human race has ears, they’ll always be an uppity group of critics that look-down on the old I-IV-V Three Chord Rule.
From Time ● Jul. 17, 2014
For instance, espionage allowed the Soviets to copy the "look-down, shoot-down" radar capability of the F-18, saving an estimated five years and $55 million in research.
From Time Magazine Archive
In particular, the black boxes are designed to protect the plane from attack from below, yet the new Soviet MiG-31 and other planes have a "look-down, shoot-down" capability that severely threatens the B-1B from above.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dandyism as yet affects to look-down on Drudgism: but perhaps the hour of trial, when it will be practically seen which ought to look down, and which up, is not so distant.
From Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
“It’s almost like I’m in a trance. I sort of look down, and the food is gone.”
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
“To see the location where Mireles was found, a person would need to leave the walkway, enter the brush several feet and look down into the vegetation,” the statement read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
He told Christopher that his father’s death felt like a big mix-up, and that sometimes he would look down the street and imagine him walking home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Max Cady either validates the paranoia of upstanding men obsessed with protecting or dominating women, or the disdain felt by those whom such men look down upon.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
I look down to find myself not on the ground, but in some kind of net.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
