on the lookout

Idioms  

1. Also, on the watch. Vigilant, alert, as in Be on the lookout for the twins—they're somewhere on this playground, or He was on the watch for her arrival. Both phrases were originally used with upon. Upon the lookout was originally nautical usage, meaning “on duty being watchful” (as for another ship, rocks, or land); it appeared in the mid-1700s, and on replaced upon about a century later. Upon the watch was first recorded in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719), and on the watch in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1797).

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Example Sentences

Her daughters — artists Alison and Lezley, and writer Tracye, their mother’s studio director — also stay on the lookout for objects that might catch her eye.

From Los Angeles Times

At the time Hemsley was board chairman and privately investing in small healthcare entities, UnitedHealth was on the lookout for healthcare investments.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Now, remember. You must be on the lookout after what happened in Ecuador. We don’t know what to expect from this Kohlrabi place.”

From Literature

Orville Payne told me to be on the lookout for you.

From Literature

Sadako was always on the lookout for good luck signs.

From Literature

Related Words

• active
• bright
• careful
• intelligent
• observant
• perceptive
• sharp
• vigilant
• wary
• watchful
• wired
• wise