2 PHRASAL VERB If you look someone up , you visit them after not having seen them for a long time. □ [V n P ] I'll try to look him up, ask him a few questions. □ [V P n] She looked up some friends of bygone years.
3 PHRASAL VERB [usu cont] If a situation is looking up , it is improving. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] Things could be looking up in the computer industry.
▸ look upon → see look on
▸ look up to PHRASAL VERB If you look up to someone, especially someone older than you, you respect and admire them. □ [V P P n] You're a popular girl, Grace, and a lot of the younger ones look up to you.
➋ look ◆◆◆ /lʊ k/ (looks , looking , looked )
1 V‑LINK You use look when describing the appearance of a person or thing or the impression that they give. □ [V adj] Sheila was looking miserable. □ [V n] He does not look the most reliable of animals. □ [V + like ] They look like stars to the naked eye. □ [V + as if ] He looked as if he was going to smile. □ [V to-inf] Everybody in the club looked to be fourteen years old. ● -looking COMB □ She was a very peculiar-looking woman.
2 N‑SING If someone or something has a particular look , they have a particular appearance or expression. □ She had the look of someone deserted and betrayed. □ When he came to decorate the kitchen, Kenneth opted for a friendly rustic look.
3 N‑PLURAL When you refer to someone's looks , you are referring to how beautiful or ugly they are, especially how beautiful they are. □ I never chose people just because of their looks. □ …a young woman with wholesome good looks.
4 V‑LINK You use look when indicating what you think will happen in the future or how a situation seems to you. □ [V adj] He had lots of time to think about the future, and it didn't look good. □ [V adj] Britain looks set to send a major force of over 100 tanks and supporting equipment. □ [V like/as if ] So far it looks like Warner Brothers' gamble is paying off. □ [V like v-ing] The Europeans had hoped to win, and, indeed, had looked like winning. □ [V to-inf] The team had stormed into a two-goal lead and looked to be cruising to a third round place.
5 PHRASE You use expressions such as by the look of him and by the looks of it when you want to indicate that you are giving an opinion based on the appearance of someone or something. □ He was not a well man by the look of him. □ By the look of things, Mr Stone and company will stay busy.
6 PHRASE If you don't like the look of something or someone, you feel that they may be dangerous or cause problems. □ I don't like the look of those clouds.
7 PHRASE If you ask what someone or something looks like , you are asking for a description of them. COLLOCATIONS look NOUN
➊1
adjective + look : close, good, hard, long, quick
verb + look : get, have, take
➊ 4
adjective + look : blank, dirty, funny, puzzled, quizzical
look|alike /lʊ kəla I k/ (lookalikes ) also look-alike N‑COUNT A lookalike is someone who has a very similar appearance to another person, especially a famous person. □ …a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.
look|er /lʊ kə r / (lookers ) N‑COUNT You can refer to an attractive man or woman as a looker or a good looker . [INFORMAL ] □ She was quite a looker before this happened.
loo k-in N‑SING If you are trying to take part in an activity and you do not get a look-in , you do not get the chance to take part because too many other people are doing it. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ They want to make sure the newcomers don't get a look-in.
loo k|ing glass (looking glasses ) also looking-glass N‑COUNT A looking glass is a mirror. [OLD-FASHIONED ]
look|out /lʊ kaʊt/ (lookouts )
1 N‑COUNT A lookout is a place from which you can see clearly in all directions. □ Troops tried to set up a lookout post inside a refugee camp.
2 N‑COUNT A lookout is someone who is watching for danger in order to warn other people about it.
3 PHRASE If someone keeps a lookout , especially on a boat, they look around all the time in order to make sure there is no danger. □ He denied that he'd failed to keep a proper lookout that night.
loom /luː m/ (looms , looming , loomed )
1 VERB If something looms over you, it appears as a large or unclear shape, often in a frightening way. □ [V prep/adv] …the bleak mountains that loomed out of the blackness and towered around us. [Also V ]
2 VERB If a worrying or threatening situation or event is looming , it seems likely to happen soon. [JOURNALISM ] □ [V ] Another government spending crisis is looming in the United States. □ [V adv/prep] The threat of renewed civil war looms ahead. □ [V -ing] …the looming threat of recession.
3 N‑COUNT A loom is a machine that is used for weaving thread into cloth.
loony /luː ni/ (loonies , loonier , looniest )
1 ADJ If you describe someone's behaviour or ideas as loony , you mean that they seem mad, strange, or eccentric. Some people consider this use offensive. [INFORMAL , OFFENSIVE , DISAPPROVAL ] □ What's she up to? She's as loony as her brother!