look up

British  

verb

1. (tr) to discover (something required to be known) by resorting to a work of reference, such as a dictionary

2. (intr) to increase, as in quality or value

   things are looking up

3. to have respect (for)

   I've always wanted a girlfriend I could look up to

4. (tr) to visit or make contact with (a person)

   I'll look you up when I'm in town

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look up Idioms  

1. Search for in a book or other source, as in I told her to look up the word in the dictionary . [Late 1600s]

2. Call on or visit, as in I'm going to look up my friend in Chicago . [Mid-1800s]

3. Become better, improve, as in Business is finally looking up . [c. 1800]

4. look up to . Admire, respect, as in The students really looked up to Mr. Jones . [Early 1700s]

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Example Sentences

Younger drag kings like her are able to look up to and learn from El Daña because her work was properly recorded, she added.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026

An advert for a £49 face serum has been banned over misleading claims that it made users look up to five years younger.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Asked about which dinosaurs he’d hope to see in the movie, Choudhury lists off several that I have to look up, rusty from my years away from textbooks.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

We’re so busy down here bickering that we sometimes neglect to look up and consider how much we can accomplish when we are at our best.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

When we got to the far end of the orchard, didn’t Daddy look up at the stars, take a deep breath and say, “We are the earth’s caretakers, Ida B.”

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan