| 释义 |
▪ I. look, n.|lʊk|
Forms: 2–6 loke, 3–5 lok, 4, 8–9 Sc. luke, (6 lowke), 6–7 looke, 8–9 Sc. leuk, 5– look.
[f. look v.]
1. a. The action or an act of looking; a glance of the eyes; a particular direction of the eyes or countenance in order to look at something. † Also occas., sight, view (quot. 1390). Phr. † to have (or get) a look of: to be looked at by. to have a look at (colloq.): to look at for the purpose of examining. † at a look: (a) at first sight; (b) in the twinkling of an eye. if looks could kill (or slay): used to denote an expression of hostility in a look.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 215 Ȝif þe hodede..ledeð hem [women] his life eȝen for to sechen hire loke. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xvii. (Martha) 46 Þe quhilk..As fyr gregois brynt at a luke. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 955 At the firste look he on hire sette. 1390Gower Conf. III. 179 In alle mennes lok A part up in his hond he tok. a1400–50Alexander 5256 Him þoȝt hire like at a loke his lady his modire. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. li, My luke vnto the hevin I threwe furthwith. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 232 Sudaynly, in the space of a luke, All was hyne went. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 108 Too meane a seruant To haue a looke of such a worthy a Mistresse. 1592― Ven. & Ad. 464 For lookes kill loue, and loue by lookes reuiueth. 1753L. M. Accomplished Woman II. 125 Their every action is forced; their looks and smiles are all studied. 1798C. Smith Yng. Philos. III. 120 Medora watched her every look with distressing solicitude. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 346 Lovely virgins..darting imperial looks of conquest. 1813Scott Rokeby i. xix, One dying look he upward cast. 1885Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman ii, In the meantime I shall have a look at Warsaw. 1887R. Buchanan (title) A look round literature. 1895E. Bowen Rowlands in Law Times XCIX. 464/2 It is at the first look hard to see why [etc.]. 1913F. L. Barclay Broken Halo xxxvii. 372 If looks could slay, Margaret would not have left that room alive. 1922F. Harris My Life & Loves I. ii. 37 When they let me up, I looked at Jones and if looks could kill, he'd have had short shrift. 1943K. Tennant Ride on Stranger iv. 31 Just then she saw me..and if looks could have killed!
b. With epithet denoting the feelings expressed by the look.
It is sometimes difficult to say whether particular instances should be referred to this sense or to 2.
1535Coverd. Ps. xvii[i]. 27 Thou shalt..bringe downe the hye lokes of the proude. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 76 b, She hath alwayes a cheerefull looke towardes him. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 281 Hee casting vppon mee a sower visage, and a sterne looke. 1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 97 It being not likely that shee should ever get a good looke of her Father. 1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 111 There was not one living soul that vouchsaf'd him a kind look. 1703Rowe Fair Penit. i. i. 109 With looks averse, and Eyes that froze me. a1717Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 158 True Religion does not consist..in singular Behaviour, in a down Look, in Sighing and Sobbing. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. xii, Roderick, with impatient look. 1833Tennyson Dream Fair Women xxvi, With sick and scornful looks averse. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano iv. iii. 147 And Sir Giroie failed nought of courtesy, And gave to us good looks and welcome great.
c. upon the look: engaged in looking for.
1819Byron Juan ii. clxxiv, At last her father's prows put out to sea, For certain merchantmen upon the look.
2. Appearance, aspect.
a. With reference to persons, often with mixture of sense 1: Appearance of the countenance (sometimes, of the whole person); visual or facial expression; personal aspect. † of a good look = of good appearance.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1605 Hypsip., And of his lok as real as a leoun. c1400Arth. & Merl. 1582 (Lincoln's Inn MS.), Þe whyte dragoun lay him by, Steorne of lok and grysly. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 267 Be of your luke like innocentis, thoght ȝe haif euill myndis. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 237 b, This palenes of visage, and dedly loke doth prognosticate y⊇ time of my death. 1611Bible Ecclus. xix. 29 A man may bee knowen by his looke. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 68 Being the first time that a joyfull looke was seene in that Court, sithence the departure of the Princesse. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 87 The Mother Cow must wear a low'ring Look. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 146, I see another Man of a very good Look come into the Circle, and no body takes the least Notice of him. 1724Ramsay Vision xi, With bauld forbidding luke. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. ii. 9 Indeed, gay and lively as he is, he has not the look of an impudent man. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vii. ii. (Rtldg.) 228 They had all the look of a deputation from a better world. 1860Reade Cloister & H. xxxviii. (1896) 109 Denys wore a look of humble apology. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxii. 190 The look of his face as he spoke was by no means pleasant.
b. pl. With the same meaning as sing. Sometimes = good looks. Also phr. to be in good looks: to be looking well, to present a healthy appearance.
1564Haward Eutropius ii. 15 After they were dead keping stil theyr grim lokes. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 45 At last her eyes glaunced on the lookes of Melicertus. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle iii. 959 Most of our women are extreamly proud Of their faire lookes. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 371 Lean are their Looks, and shagged is their Hair. 1709Berkeley Th. Vision §9 We often see shame or fear in the looks of a man. 1724Lond. Gaz. No. 6283/3 Abraham Shaw,..aged 38 Years,.. pale Looks. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxix, When I survey these emaciated looks, and hear those groans. 1786Burns Twa Dogs 225 They..lee-lang nights, wi' crabbit leuks, Pore owre the devil's pictur'd beuks. 1798Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) I. ii. 11 Catherine was in very good looks. 1815― Emma i. i, Everybody in their best looks. 1896A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad xxiii, And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.
c. Of inanimate and immaterial things: Appearance, esp. as expressive of their quality or nature. Also in pl., esp. in from or by the looks (of).
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 10 b, A certaine vaine of the earth,..having the verie looke and face of Golde. 1710T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 411 This colourless Syrup..gives no unpleasing colour, nor alters the look of the Medicine in the least. a1716Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 84 The beautiful Look of the forbidden Fruit. 1754Richardson Grandison II. iv. 40 If you fall I shall have the worst of it, from the looks of the matter. 1782Cowper Convers. 862 Though such continual zigzags in a book, Such drunken reelings, have an awkward look. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. II. xi. 269 What curious little circumstances conspired to give a look even of fabulous and novel-like interest to his adventures. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 27 Life is to wear, as at Athens, a joyous and festive look. 1877W. H. Russell Pr. Wales' Tour viii. 344 There are no minarets, mosques or Hindoo temples, to detract from the European look of the place. 1882R. Abercromby in Nature XXVI. 572 In common parlance, any particular ‘look’ of the sky is called a prognostic. 1883R. Cleland Inchbracken iv. 28 It micht be e'en a bairn by the looks o' the bun'le. 1923‘B. M. Bower’ Parowan Bonanza v. 54 You're just ahead of a big storm, by the looks, Mr. Rayfield. 1975J. Symons Three Pipe Problem ix. 65 Acting doesn't pay too well from the looks of it.
d. to have a look of: to resemble vaguely, to remind the spectator of the appearance of (a person or thing).
1860E. Eden Semi-attached Couple II. 62 This picture which I think has a great look of you.
e. Colloq. phr. for the look of the thing: for the sake of appearances.
1876Trollope Prime Minister IV. xiii. 217 ‘I shall go down and vote for them of course,’ said Mr. O'Mahony, ‘just for the look of the thing.’ 1910‘Saki’ Reginald in Russia 63 He often wished, for the look of the thing, that people would sometimes burn candles at his shrine. 1924M. Kennedy Constant Nymph xv. 212 Save for the look of the thing she had no particular wish for a reconciliation. 1940L. H. Myers Pool of Vishnu iv. v. 191 Why are they willing to die, and to send those whom they love to their death, for the sake of—what shall I call it?—the look of the thing?
f. Fashion. With defining word(s): an appearance or effect indicated by the preceding word(s). Occas. without defining word (quot. 1973).
1938[see little-girl attrib. s.v. little a. 14]. 1939Vogue 15 Apr. 2 (Advt.), Accent on That Fresh Young Look. 1940Mademoiselle Mar. 56 Formold created for you that Tall Look of 1940. 1948Vogue Mar. 41 The New Look has fined down... Length has crystallized into eleven inches from the ground for formal wear. 1966Listener 3 Feb. 171/1 This year..the geometrical look is in. 1971Daily Mail 3 Feb. 3 A specially-created hair-style to complete the hot-pants look. 1973Sunday Times 28 Jan. 43/2 The clothes are created on them, and a whole look is painstakingly put together. 1974Country Life 17 Jan. 107/1 The peasant look in knitwear.
3. Comb. With advs. forming combs. corresponding to various phrases under the vb., as look-back, look-down, look-forward, look-on, look-up; look-on net, one of the nets pulled up as a test of the condition of the others.
1597Middleton Wisdom of Solomon xii. 15 Thou orderest every thing with look-on sight. 1813L. Hunt in Examiner 11 Jan. 19/1 He..takes away confidence from their look-up to him. 1850Hawthorne Scarlet L., Custom House (1886) 56 A dreary look-forward, this, for a man who [etc.]. 1853Jerdan Autobiog. III. 7 The look-back is wearisome. 1862H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 401 The look-down on the works below..is awful. 1877Holdsworth Sea Fisheries 60 [Drift net fishing]. Whilst the nets are in the water, the warp is occasionally hauled in till the first net is reached; this is called the ‘look-on’ net. 1887Hall Caine Deemster I. x. 207 Dan..asked the skipper to try the ‘look-on’ net.
▪ II. look, v.|lʊk|
Forms: 1 lócian, 2 lokien, (locan), (3 lokin, loky), 3–4 loc, lok(en, locken, 3–6 loke, (4 loki), 4–5 north. luk, 4–8 luke, (5 lokyn), 5–6 Sc. lowke, 5–7 looke, 6 arch. looken, Sc. louk, leuk, luck, luik, luick, lwik, 5– look.
[OE. lócian = OS. lôcon (in a gloss), MDu. loeken:—OTeut. type *lôkôjan; a form *lôgæ̂jan, app. of identical meaning, appears in OHG. luogên (MHG. luogen, mod.G. dial. lugen) to see, look, spy.
Brugmann (Grundriss I. 384) suggests that the type *lôkô- may represent OTeut. *lôkkô-:—pre-Teut. *lāghnā́- or lōghnā́-, from the root *lāgh- or *lōgh- (Teut. *lôg-) represented by the Ger. vb.]
I. To direct one's sight.
1. intr. To give a certain direction to one's sight; to apply one's power of vision; to direct one's eyes upon some object or towards some portion of space.
a. with phrase or adv. expressing the direction or the intended object of vision. (See also branches IV and V.)
The usual prep. introducing the object of vision is now at; the older to look on, to look upon, are in the literal sense either arch., or include a mixture of the notion of mental watching or contemplation.
a1000Boeth. Metr. xxii. 20 Efne swa sweotole swa he on ða sunnan mæᵹ..on locian. c1000Ags. Gosp. Mark vi. 41 He on heofon locode & hi bletsode. c1200Vices & Virtues (1888) 47 Ac me þincþ ðat tu lokest aweiward. a1225St. Marher. 2 Alle hire luueden þat hire on lokeden. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 123 ‘Lewede lorel!’ quod he ‘luite lokestou on þe Bible’. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 143 Lokynge in þe first myrour. c1400Destr. Troy 8658 Achilles..Woundit hym [sc. Ector] wickedly, as he away loked. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 393 Þe childe loked here and þare. c1475Babees Bk. 65 And yf they speke withe yow..Withe stable Eye loke vpone theym Rihte. 1598tr. Aristotle's Pol. 379 Wee forbid them also to looke on leud pictures, or dishonest fables. 1611Bible Acts iii. 4 And Peter fastening his eyes vpon him, with Iohn, said, Looke on vs. [But looke at (fig.) in 2 Cor. iv. 18: see 3 a.] a1626Bacon New Atl. (1900) 3 But the Servant tooke them not, nor would scarce looke upon them. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 212 Her finnes so little that they are like the Dodoes wings, more to looke at, then for execution. 1688Boyle Final Causes Nat. Things ii. 61 The camelion may look directly forward with the right eye, and with the other at the same time, directly backwards. 1773Life N. Frowde 32 Before she could well look upon me, I addressed her. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, They walked quickly, looking neither to the right nor left. 1830Tennyson Mariana 15 She could not look on the sweet heaven, Either at morn or eventide. 1842― Locksley Hall 72 Such a one do I remember, whom to look at was to love. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 72 We went out to look at the firmament. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. I. 205 Every nerve and muscle in Rosamond was adjusted to the consciousness that she was being looked at. 1895Pall Mall Mag. Nov. 393 Such a look as schoolboys exchange when the master is looking another way.
¶ Phrases. (fair, etc.) to look at, † on, † upon: with respect to appearance; to look at him (me, it, etc.): colloq. = judging from his (my, etc.) appearance; not to look at († look on, † look upon); often emphatically for ‘not to touch, taste, meddle with’; also, not to look at (someone): to find unattractive, to show no sexual interest in (someone); occas. in positive contexts; so cannot look at (colloq.) = ‘has no chance against’; as quick (or soon) as look at you (or him, etc.): very rapidly and readily; ‘at the drop of a hat’; not to know which way to look: to be embarrassed.
a1300Cursor M. 23228 Fell dragons and tades bath þat ar apon to lok ful lath. c1400Destr. Troy 1554 Large on to loke, louely of shap. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 2208 What wylte thou skelpe me? thou dare not loke on a gnat. 1535Coverdale Zech. v. 6 Euen thus are they (yt dwell vpon the whole earth) to loke vpon. 1611Bible Gen. xii. 11, I know that thou art a faire woman to looke vpon. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. v. 101 She came up to me..and talked and laughed till I did not know which way to look. I felt that I must be the jest of the room. 1817M. Edgeworth Harrington xi. 247 Nor did I know well which way to look, when his lordship..asked Miss Montenero if she could possibly imagine that any such vulgar prejudices existed. 1846Bentley's Misc. XX. 433 No one would think me more than five or six-and-thirty, to look at me. 1859Tennyson Enid 1515 If he rise no more, I will not look at wine until I die. 1861C. M. Yonge Young Step-Mother xxviii. 420 Albinia did not know which way to look when all was ascribed to Mr. Kendal's great kindness to him. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms II. iii. 46 He was awful shook on Mad; but she wouldn't look at him. 1894Somerville & ‘Ross’ Real Charlotte II. xx. 78 There was no other woman here that signified except Miss Dysart, and it didn't seem likely she'd look at him. 1895Daily News 26 Aug. 7/1 When he [a bowler] went on for the second time the batsmen..‘could not look at him’. 1922Joyce Ulysses 347 Give it to him too on the same place as quick as I'd look at him. 1926I. Mackay Blencarrow xi. 105 Supposing Kathrine wouldn't look at him in any case? 1937M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xx. 266 If I married you I'd never look at another man so long as I lived. 1941H. Nicolson Diary 8 July (1967) 177 He then stalks out of the room. We are left ashamed and wretched and do not know which way to look. 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh (1947) iii. 167 From what I've seen of 'em..they'd run over you as soon as look at you. 1955J. I. M. Stewart Guardians iii. ii. 214 The novelists..constantly endow sensitive women with husbands whom, in fact, they would never look at. 1971M. Torrie Bismarck Herrings xi. 156 Threatened to report you to the council as soon as look at you, she did. 1973W. M. Duncan Big Timer iv. 29 You have to watch it nowaways. Jump you as soon as look at you. 1974P. Dickinson Poison Oracle ii. 37 Will she even look at a male chimp? Doesn't she think she's human?
b. with the direction or object left indeterminate, or merely implied by the context. Sometimes said of the eye. † In early use also: To possess or receive the faculty of vision (= Gr. βλέπειν, ἀναβλέπειν). † to live and look: to retain one's faculties.
971Blickl. Hom. 173 And blinde men mid his bedum [Petrus] ᵹehælde þæt hie locodan. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 181 Eien lokeð, and eare lusteð. c1275Passion our Lord 54 in O.E. Misc. 39 Þe blynde he makede loki. a1300Cursor M. 1338 Cherubin, þat angel blyth, Bad him ga lok þe thrid syth. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 49 But ȝif I may liuen and loken I schal go lerne betere. 1390Gower Conf. I. 54 For ofte..Betre is to winke than to loke. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 468 The kingis palȝone..couth weyll luk and wynk, with the ta E. c1550R. Bieston Bayte Fortune B ij, Looke therfore ere thou leape. 1667Milton P.L. x. 993 But if thou judge it hard and difficult, Conversing, looking, loving, to abstain From Loves due Rites. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 334 He looks, and languishes, and leaves his Rest. 1709Berkeley Th. Vision §7 When we look only with one eye. 1875E. White Life in Christ iv. xxv. (1876) 422 The eye looks, but it is the mind that sees. 1896Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 616/1 If he had looked he must have seen the light of the approaching train. 1901‘Ian Maclaren’ Yng. Barbarians vii. 141 At the most critical moment he was afraid to look.
c. To direct one's eyes in a manner indicative of a certain feeling; to cast a look of a certain significance; to present a specified expression of countenance. With adv. or phr.
Now only with the object or direction specified as in a; otherwise this sense now merges in 9.
c1205Lay. 2266 He stod bi-foren Locrine & laðelich him lokede on. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5348 Vre louerd mid is eyen of milce on þe lokeþ þeruore. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 164 On ous he lokyde with loue. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour E viij b, He euer loked on her of a wantoun and fals regard. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lviii. 9 Bot, Lord! how petewuslie I luke, Quhen all the pelfe they pairt amang thame. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 53 b, Least that it might be suspected that he was abasshed for feare of his enemyes, and for that cause looked so piteously. 1611Bible Gen. xl. 7 Wherefore looke ye so sadly to day? 1642R. Carpenter Experience ii. i. 133 The man look'd bloodily when he spoke it. 1842Tennyson Talking Oak 116, I look'd at him with joy. 1859― Enid 1279 He turn'd and look'd as keenly at her As careful robins eye the delver's toil.
d. occas. To give a look of surprise, to stare. Now colloq.
1610B. Jonson Alchemist v. ii, Doctor 'tis true (you looke) for all your Figures. I sent for him, indeed. Mod. Yes, you may look!
e. quasi-trans. in such phrases as to look (a person or thing) in the face: see face n. 2 b. to look a gift horse in the mouth: see horse n. 21.
The object in sentences of this kind was prob. originally in the dat.: cf. G. einem ins gesicht sehen.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xix. (Cristofore) 28 He sa mekil, sa hee and auchful vas, þat few du[r]ste luk hyme in þe face. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant iv. i, I'll neuer look a horse i' th' mouth that's giuen. a1716South Serm. (1823) VI. 330 The soldier..converses with dangers, and looks death in the face. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 184 Many who, altho' they have pretended knowledge in Horses, have been looked in the Mouth (as we say). a1850Rossetti Dante & Cir. i. (1874) 141 This lady..Look'd thee so deep within the eyes, Love sigh'd And was awakened there. 1880G. Meredith Trag. Com. xiii. (1892) 194 She..looks you straight at the eyes, perfectly unabashed. 1891Strand Mag. II. 530/2 An eye that looks one through and through. 1892R. Kipling Ball. East & West 83 They have looked each other between the eyes, and there they found no fault. 1896A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad xlii, With..friendly brows and laughter He looked me in the eyes.
f. with cogn. obj.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 112 Eyes, looke your last. 1599Shakes. etc. Pass. Pilgr. 46 Such lookes as none could looke but beauties queen. 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. xlii. 29 And they came to Jacob, who had looked many a long look for them, no doubt. 1781Cowper Hope 726 A transport glows in all he looks and speaks. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xlix, And look thy look, and go thy way. 1896A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad viii, Terence, look your last at me, For I come home no more.
g. trans. With complement or prep.: To bring by one's looks into a certain place or condition. Now rare. (Cf. look down, 33 e.)
1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 94 Thou hast look'd thy selfe into my grace. 1624Massinger Renegado iii. ii, Thrust out these fiery eies, that yesterday Would haue lookde thee dead. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Glance iii, Thou shalt look us out of pain. 1694Dryden Love Triumph. iv. i, While you stay,..every moment looks a part of me away. 1700― Secular Masque 51 Mars has looked the sky to red. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. v, They had early learnt the lesson of looking presumption out of countenance. 1776Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 58/1 That armed force which was to have looked all America into submission. 1860Trollope Castle Richmond I. xii. 234, I really thought Mrs. Townsend would have looked him into the river when he came to her.
h. To express by a look or glance, or by one's countenance; to cast looks of (compassion, etc.) or looks which threaten (death, etc.). to look daggers: see dagger 3 b.
1727Thomson Summer 845 [1188] They..sigh'd, and look'd unutterable Things. 1742Young Nt. Th. iv. 635 With that soft eye..deign to look Compassion to the coldness of my breast. 1750Chesterfield Lett. (1774) III. 127 The same things differently expressed, looked, and delivered, cease to be the same things. 1818Byron Juan i. xv, Some women use their tongues— she look'd a lecture, Each eye a sermon, and her brow a homily. 1837Dickens Pickw. vi, The old lady..looked carving-knives at the..delinquent. 1837Thackeray Ravenswing i, The Captain, looking several tremendous canings at him, walked into the back room. 1867Gd. Words 335/2, I was obliged to be contented with looking my pleasure. 1947A. Menen Prevalence of Witches ii. 36 Suddenly his eyes looked mischief again. 1956H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) vi. 53, I looked a question at her.
2. a. With indirect question expressed or contextually implied: To apply one's sight to ascertain (who, what, how, whether, etc.). Now only used when the question is regarded as capable of being answered at a single glance.
[c1000Ags. Gosp. Mark vi. 38 Ða cwæð he hu fela hlafa hæbbe ᵹe gað & lociað.] c1175Lamb. Hom. 41 Heo tweien eoden..in to helle..for to lokien hu hit þer ferde. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 121 Ure drihten..beih of heuene to mannen and lokede gif here ani understoden oðer bisohten him. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2600 Ghe adde or hire dowter sent, To loken quider it sulde ben went. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 315 Brut sende vp þere Þre hondred men iarmed wel, to loke ȝwat lond þat were. c1425Crafte Nombryng (E.E.T.S.) 30 Multiply þat digit by anoþer diget,..and loke qwat comes þere-of. a1584Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 463 Luik quhair to licht before thou loup. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. in Cath. Tractates (1901) 205 Lowke quhat day of the age of the moone it is. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 19 Scarse could he once uphold his heavie hedd, To looken whether it were night or day. 1710Swift Jrnl. to Stella 30 Nov., O, but one may look whether one goes crooked or no and so write on. 1819Crabbe T. of Hall x, I loved my trees in order to dispose, I number'd peaches, look'd how stocks arose. 1848J. H. Newman Loss & Gain iii. iii. 318 He glanced from one article to another, looking who were the University-preachers of the week, who had taken degrees [etc.]. Mod. I will look what time the train starts.
†b. Phr. look else: see whether it be not so. (See else 4 c.) Obs.
1622Massinger Virg. Mart. ii. i, I kicke for all that like a horse, looke else.
c. go look: = ‘find it out’; a contemptuous manner of refusing information. Now dial.
1595Lyly Woman in Moon v. i. 86 (Bond), If you aske me why I sing, I say yee may go looke.
3. fig.
a. ‘To direct the intellectual eye’ (J.); to turn or fix one's attention or regard. With advs. or phrases as in 1 a. (See also branches IV and V.) Now usually const. at; formerly on or upon.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 37 b, Let the kyngdome of the assiriens be your example, and if that suffise not, then loke on the Percians. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 37 b, Lokyng more narrowly upon domestical evils. 1562Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 12 Thay..luckis bakwart with the Israelitis to the potis of flesche in Egypt. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 10 He man luke lawer, and enter in the Spreit, And than he sall persaif the cause fra hand. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. xxi. 124 Looke me vpon the Turkes: they haue some reuerence to their religion. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. iv. 37 (1604 Qo.) He that made vs with such large discourse, Looking before and after. 1611Bible 2 Cor. iv. 18 While we looke not at the things which are seene, but at y⊇ things which are not seene. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca ii. iv, Ods so infinite Discretion durst not look upon. a1699Stillingfl. (J.), We are not only to look at the bare action, but at the reason of it. 1824Bentham Bk. Fallacies Wks. 1843 II. 455 Instead of reforming others..let him look at home. 1845M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 2 Because ideas change, the whole mode and manner of looking at things varies with every age. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. lv, What I look at, is the sacrifice of so much portable property. 1885F. Anstey Tinted Venus 70 ‘That's the proper way to look at it’, said he. 1885Sir N. Lindley in Law Rep. 30 Ch. Div. 14 The case of Stokes v. Trumper is not really in point when we come to look at it closely. 1890Mrs. H. Wood House of Halliwell I. vii. 175, I marry a medical student!.. I look a little higher than that. Ibid. III. viii. 207 Your friends will look at position as well as gentle blood.
b. To take care, make sure, see (that or how something is done; also with omission of that). Now arch.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. lix. 451 Lociað nu ðæt ðios eowru leaf ne weorðe oðrum monnum to biswice. a1300Cursor M. 1966 Fixs and flesse, o bath i sai, Lok ai þe blod ȝee cast a wai. a1300Ibid. 16814 + 15 Pilat..bad þat þai suld loke þat he wore ded for-thy. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 38 Seynt petyr comaundiþ ȝif ony speke, loke he speke as goddis wordis. c1440Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 434 Loke hit be stondynge. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xvi. 60 Loke eueryche of yow kynges lete make suche ordinaunce. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iii. (1577) O viij, And you (my L. Margaret) looke yee beare it well awaye. 1604Shakes. Oth. iv. iii. 8 Dismisse your Attendant there: look't be done. 1621–31Laud Serm. (1847) 133 The State must look their proceedings be just, and the Church must look their devotions and actions be pious. 1646J. Hall Horæ Vac. 22 We ought to looke how wee spend our houres here. 1690E. Gee Jesuit's Mem. 89 Censor to look that no man lived idly. 1819Shelley Cyclops 477 When I call, Look ye obey the masters of the craft. 1865Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. I. ii. 242 We must look, therefore, that we have the ..wide chest, straight back, &c. 1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiv. 231 Look that warily then deep-laid in steady remembrance These our words grow greenly.
c. To expect. Const. to with inf. † Formerly also with clause, usually introduced by that. † Also, to expect, await the time when something shall happen; to be curious to see how, whether, etc.; also impers. in pass.
c1513More Rich. III (ed. Lumby) 7 Whose life hee looked that euil dyete shoulde shorten. Ibid. 11 In these last wordes that euer I looke to speake with you. 1535Coverdale Isa. v. 4 When he loked yt it shulde bringe him grapes, it brought forth thornes. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 112 Lokyng every day when his Barons and their confederates would cruelly set upon him. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxix. viii, Some I lookt would me uphold. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 243. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xi. 156 The wind being contrary and stormy, they looked all to perish. 1605Camden Rem. (1637) 271 Then it was looked how he should justifie that fact. 1611Heywood Gold. Age i. i. Wks. 1874 III. 10, I neuer heard she was committed to prison; yet t'is look't euery houre when she shall be deliuered. a1626Bacon New Atl. (1900) 9 Wee..saluted him in a very lowly and submissive manner; As looking that from him, wee should receyve Sentence of Life, or Death. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 271 By whom we look to be protected. 1657Austen Fruit Trees ii. 164 God lookes every one should be fruit-full under all his dispensations. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 141, I never look to have a mistress that I shall love half as well. 1830Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 168, I too had been looking to hear from you. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, I'm glad mas'r didn't go off this morning, as he looked to. 1893Field 11 Mar. 362/3 The..labourer..looks to go to work at a fixed hour. 1896A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad xxvi, Two lovers looking to be wed.
†d. with indirect question: To consider, ascertain (who, when, whether, etc.); to try (if something can be done, etc.). Also simply, to consider the matter, make inquiry; esp. in phr. whoso will look, etc. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce viii. 419 The king can furth his vais ta,..for till luk gif he Micht recouer his cuntre. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 93 He vmthocht he wald luke Gyf he in sic corne cuth set huke. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 319 But diversite is greet here and þere, whoso wole loke. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 255 That ich leode lokide what longid to his age. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 51 Þou muste loke wheþer þat þe bodi be ful of wickide humouris, eiþer be clene. c1450Merlin 9 Than made he hir suster come on a saterday,..to loke yef he might gete hir in that manere. 1573Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 403 Schir, luk ȝe and se Gif that the teindis of this countrie May not do all that we have tauld. c1585R. Browne Answ. Cartwright 50 If he looke well, this proofe serueth against him. 1692Locke 3rd Let. Toleration ix. Wks. 1727 II. 394 Whether..your pretending Gain to them,..be a greater Mockery, you were best look.
4. Idiomatic uses of the imperative.
a. Used to bespeak attention: = ‘see’, ‘behold’, ‘lo’. In mod. colloq. use often look you (in representations of vulgar speech written look'ee) = ‘mind this’; also look here, a brusque mode of address prefacing an order, expostulation, reprimand, etc. looky here U.S. regional variant of ‘look here’; also look-a-here. Also, look who's (or what's) here: see who (or what) is here.
c1000ælfric Gram. xxxviii. (Z.) 231 En efne oððe loca nu, her hit is. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3331 Quod moyses, ‘loc! her nu is bread’. c1460Towneley Myst. xxx. 141 Here is a bag full, lokys, of pride and of lust. 1513Douglas æneis Exclamatioun 18 Lo, heir he failȝeis, se thar he leis, luik! 1575Gascoigne Glasse Govt. iv. i, Poems 1870 II. 59, I would be glad to talke with Maister Gnomaticus..and looke where he commeth in haste. 1594Marlowe & Nashe Dido 372 N.'s Wks. (Grosart) VI. 22 Looke where she comes: æneas, view her well. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 116 (1600 Qo.) Looke you how he writes. 1611― Wint. T. iii. iii. 116 Heauy matters, heauy matters: but looke thee heere boy. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal i. i. (Arb.) 33 For, look you, Sir, the grand design..is to keep the Auditors in suspence. 1709Steele Tatler No. 34 ⁋4 Look ye, said I, I must not rashly give my Judgment. 1710Ibid. No. 206 ⁋2 Look'ee, Jack, I have heard thee sometimes talk like an Oracle. 1782Cowper Retirement 283 Look where he comes. a1814Woman's Will iv. ii. in New Brit. Theatre IV. 111 Lookee there now! You can soon create a cause for quarrel, my Lady. 1843Longfellow Sp. Student ii. vi, Look, here he comes. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. li, Now, look here, my man..I'll have no feelings here. 1865― Mut. Fr. ii. xiv, ‘Now, lookee here, my dear,’ returned old Betty,—‘asking your excuse for being so familiar’. 1872[see gum-game (gum n.2 9)]. 1875Tennyson Q. Mary ii. i, Look you, Master Wyatt, Tear up that woman's work there. 1876‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer x. 94 And besides, look-a-here—maybe that whack done for him! 1925E. O'Neill Desire under Elms i. ii. 20 Looky here! Ye'd oughtn't t' said that, Eben. 1935Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. iv. 95 ‘Looka here, folkses,’ Jim Presley exclaimed. ‘Wese a half hour behind schedule.’ 1943‘C. Dickson’ She died a Lady v. 38 Looky here... Burn it all, all I was tryin' to do was see what she'd do flat out on an open road. 1945A. Kober Parm Me 75 ‘Well, look who's here!’ exclaimed the host. 1949N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing iii. 48 ‘Well, well, well,’ he said. ‘Look who's here.’ 1969Listener 1 May 614/1 Look, my Bill doesn't include any blanket condemnation of unofficial strikes. 1971Black Scholar June 54/2 Looka⁓here, Dr. Hare, I don't have a picture at this time. 1973Black World Apr. 62 Lookahere Sammy... I'm glad to see ya. 1973G. Sims Hunters Point xiii. 115 Look, we don't have to sit here. We could go down to the beach. 1974Daily Mail 1 Oct. 8/5 Look you! Plaid Cymru protested to the BBC yesterday over the timing of its only party political broadcast.
†b. Prefixed to interrogative pronoun or adv., or relative conj., forming indefinite relatives = whoever, whatever, however, etc. Also, in later use, emphasizing the correspondence of relative and antecedent, as in look as = ‘just as’. Obs.
The absence of examples between the 12th and the 16th c. is remarkable: the idiom was prob. preserved in some non-literary dialect.
c1000ælfric Gen. xvi. 6 Þrea hiᵹ, loca hu þu wylle. ― Josh. ii. 19 And loca hwa ut gange, licge he ofslaᵹen. a1123O.E. Chron. an. 1101 (Laud MS.) Loc hweðer þæra ᵹebroðra oðerne oferbide, wære yrfeweard ealles Englalandes. 1535Coverdale Ps. i. 3 His leeues shal not fall off, and loke what soeuer he doth, it shal prospere. ― Ecclus. i. 13 The loue of God is honorable wiszdome: loke vnto whom it appeareth, they loue it. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 94 And looke what he commaunded, that was done, though some did murmure. 1597J. T. Serm. Paules C. 56 But looke as thou sinnest, so shalt thou haue the wages of sinne. a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. vi. §9 He added farther, that look what duty the Roman Consuls did execute..the like charge had the Bishop. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xxxvii. 13 Looke what is best, that best I wish in thee. 1611Bible 1 Macc. iv. 54 Looke at what time, and what day the heathen had prophaned it, euen in that was it dedicated with songs, and cittherns, and harpes, and cimbals. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 23 And looke how farre a tree spreads his boughs aboue, so far doth he put his roots vnder the earth. 1625Burges Pers. Tithes 31 And looke what the Lawes..enioyne, that thou must doe, or be a Rebell. 1675Brooks Gold. Key 321 Look, as God cannot but be just, so he cannot but be true. Ibid. 301, 302.
5. look sharp. Originally (with sharp as adv.) = ‘to look sharply after something’, ‘to keep strict watch’. In later use (which is merely colloquial) the sense is commonly ‘to bestir oneself briskly’, ‘to lose no time’ (the vb. being app. taken in a sense belonging to branch III, and sharp regarded as a complementary adj.).
1711Steele Spect. No. 132 ⁋1 The Captain..ordered his Man to look sharp, that none but one of the Ladies should have the Place he had taken fronting the Coachbox. 1713R. Bentley Remarks Late Disc. Free-th. ii. Wks. 1838 III. 472 It is time for us then to look sharp, to observe every period. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §1, I must, therefore, look sharp, and well consider every step I take. 1788Ld. Auckland Corr. (1861) II. 69 At nine o'clock we began to look sharp for our house. 1803in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. VII. 128 Mr. Robson will attend to the old peers..while Mr. Faulder will look sharp after the fortune-hunters. 1818Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 91, I see that the Ministers are very shy of dissolving the Parliament; and they shall look sharp if they act before I am ready for them. 1834Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1853 II. 285/2 But let her look sharp, or spectacles may be thrust upon her nose that shall make her eyes water. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxix, Kit..ordered..him to bring three dozen..oysters, and to look sharp about it! 1846–9S. R. Maitland Ess. etc. 258 Would he not be startled if one told him that he would have to look sharp for five-and-twenty [martyrs]? 1874Punch 8 Aug. 64 Glass of ale, young woman; and look sharp, please! 1890Fenn Double Knot I. viii. 191 You'd better look sharp,..they're all ready and waiting.
6. Transitive uses, chiefly synonymous with various intransitive uses with prepositions.
a. To look at, behold; to view, inspect, examine. Now dial. to look babies: to gaze at the reflection of one's face in another's eyes.
13..Coer de L. 3030 Rychard bad his men seche For some wys clerk and sertayn leche,..For to loke his uryn. 1382Wyclif Num. xxiv. 17, I shal inwardly loke hym [Vulg. intuebor illum] but not nyȝ. c1400Destr. Troy 7525 Leches full lyuely lokid his wound. 1471J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 7 That no body look my wryghtynges. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 113 When he a while his glasse hath loken. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §40 Than let the shepeherde turne them, and loke them on euery syde. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 158 He mowit wpe to the hill heid of Tarbitt..to awew and luik the congregatioun. 1607Beaum. & Fl. Woman Hater iii. i, I cannot thinke, I shall become a coxcombe, To ha' my hare curl'd, by an idle finger,..Mine eyes lookt babies in. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado 80 Or when none that's iealous spies To looke babbies in his eyes. 1647Trapp Comm. Ep. & Rev. App. 669 Many Heathens have advised the angry man to look his face in a glasse, and to grow ashamed of his distemper. 1655New Haven Col. Rec. (1858) II. 151 Robert Cranfeild..testifyed..that he went to looke oxen. 1721Ramsay Morning Interview 34 He frown'd, and look'd his watch. 1874W. H. L. Ranken Domin. Australia vi. 105 Plains are scoured and every piece of timber looked. 1882J. Walker Jaunt to Auld Reekie etc. 10 He looks his hand: behold the sooty meal The secret tells. 1897Crockett Lad's Love xi. 115, I was engaged in ‘looking the sheep’—that is, numbering them and seeing that none had strayed. 1957J. Braine Room at Top xi. 107, I could see my face in her pupils... ‘You're looking babies,’ she said.
†b. To look into, examine; to consider, have regard to, regard. Obs.
c1300Beket 284 The King from Normandie com To Engelond to Look the stat of his Kynedom. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 205 He that right ordir of lyfyng wil luke Suld bygyn thus, als says the boke. c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 271 When þou prayes, god lokes þi wille. a1400Prymer (1891) 45 For he lokede the mekenesse of his handmayde. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas ix. xxxiii. (1558) 34 The matter who so list to loke. 1533Gau Richt Vay 19 God lukis notht the wtuert richtfulnes quilk mony keipis. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxiv. 1 Ȝe blindit luvaris, luke The rekless lyfe ȝe leid.
†c. To consult or refer to (an author, a book, or a place in it); to ‘turn up’. In the imper. = vide. Also, to search for (a word etc.) in a book of reference. (Cf. look up, 45 g.) Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 9334 Þat yow tels sent Ieremi, If yee wald lok his propheci. c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 250 Looketh the Bible, and ther ye may it leere. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3099 As þe boke can expresse: Whoso it lokith, fynde it shal no lesse. 1529Rastell Pastyme, Hist. French (1811) 69 Therfor loke Julius Cesar his comentaryes. 1596Harington Metam. Ajax 60 Looke it sirra there in the dictionarie. 1598Florio, Aria, looke Aere. 1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 58 For his ensainting, looke the Almanack in the beginning of Aprill. 1611Cotgr., Anonexie, Looke Anorexie. 1611Bible 1 Macc. xii. 7 marg., Areus: looke Ioseph. Ant. lib. 13. cap. 8. 1640Fuller Joseph's Coat etc. 125 marg. Look Lord Bacon in his life. 1656H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 157 Take the compass of the tree..look this compass in the Table. 1813J. Adams Wks. (1856) X. 49, I found that if I looked a word to-day, in less than a week I had to look it again.
d. To seek, search for; = look for (15 b). Also, to be on the look-out for, seek or search out. rare (now dial.).
c1394P. P. Crede 593 Now mot a frere..loken hem lesynges þat likeþ þe puple. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. i. (Cock & Jasp) v, I had leuer ga scrapit heir with my naillis..and luik my lyfis fude. 1595Munday John a Kent (Shaks. Soc.) 22 Moorton shall looke him now an other bryde. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. v. 30 He hath bin all this day to looke you. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 152 You neuer left any Crownes nor Royals with me: Goe looke your Crownes and Royals else-where. 1650T. Vaughan Anima Magica To Rdr., He knew it was bootles to look fatal Events in the Planets. 1664Pepys Diary 3 Sept., In the morning she chid her mayds for not looking the fleas a-days. 1668Dryden All for Love iv. i, Octavia, I was looking you, my love. 1683Tryon Way to Health xix. (1697) 417 Or else the poor Lass after the Wedding-Cloathes are made, must go look her an Husband. 1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 162 He went with his new Souldier to look his Father. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 138 ⁋11 At her leisure hours she looks goose eggs. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vii. v, I'll go look him [a dog], however, for we went at such a rate that I never missed him. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 88 Pinders, that such chances look, Drive his rambling cows to pound. 1879Boy's Own Paper 18 Jan. 14/3 [The monkeys] both set to work and ‘look fleas’ in the hare's fur. 1961F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk vii. 148 A very common usage makes look into a transitive verb meaning look for, gather: ‘Arthur and I joined a group of boys to look wood.’
†e. To take care of, keep, guard, watch over, preserve in safety; to observe (a day). Also refl. To guard oneself, beware; to abstain (from). Also absol. or intr.: To watch. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 45 We aȝen þene sunne dei swiþeliche wel to wurþien and on alle clenesse to locan. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3193 He dede is binden & faire loken Alle ðe bones ðe he ðor token. Ibid. 3511 Loke ðe wel ðat ðu ne stele. a1300K. Horn 800 Rymenhild þu kep and loke. a1300Cursor M. 8297 ‘Godd þe loke’, he said, ‘sir king’. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 129 Þat othe sald he wele loke. 1340Ayenb. 42 Þet hi ham loki uram þise zenne. Ibid. 235 Þe prestes þet lokeden chastete ine þe temple weren todeld uram þe oþren þet hi ne loren hire chastete. c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 219 God looke you all thre!
† f. To provide, appoint, ordain, decree, decide. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 73 Þer fore hit wes iloked bi godes wissunge ine halie chirche þet mon scule childre fulhten. a1225Leg. Kath. 1206 As his ahne goddlec lahede hit ant lokede. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1230 Þe kyng he sende word aȝen, þat he adde is franchise In is owe court, vorto loke domes & assise. c1305St. Kenelm 301 in E.E.P. (1862) 55 Þe bischop hadde iloked þat hit scholde þider beo ibore. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 36 Þe right lawes did he loke for fals men & fikelle. a1400–50Alexander 3404 (Ashm. MS.) Syn it lokid [Dublin MS. lukkyd] has þe largenes of þe lord of heuen. c1460Launfal 783, I am a redy for to tho All that the court wyll loke.
†g. To expect, look forward to, look for. Obs.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 311 What ende at the length doe you loke of this obstinacy and vnloyaultie. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 4 We crave of all the gentill Readaris, not to look of us such ane History. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. K. i, What I look't from thee..I now enjoy. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars ii. viii, His fortune gives him more than he could looke. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 369 The gifts she lookes from me, are packt and lockt Vp in my heart.
II. To have an outlook, face a certain way.
7. a. intr. To have or afford a certain outlook; to face, front, or be turned towards, into, on to, etc.
1555Coverdale Jer. i. 13, I do se a seethinge pot, looking from out of the north hitherwarde. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1633) 304 Each of these chambers had a little window to looke into the hall. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. 193 That parte of the Castel that luikis to Tued. 1611Bible Num. xxi. 20 Pisgah, which looketh toward Ieshimon. 1668Dryden All for love ii. i, Unbar the Gate that looks to Cæsar's Camp. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §1 A summer parlour which looks into the garden. 1866M. Arnold Thyrsis ii, The signal-elm that looks on Ilsley Downs. 1886B. M. Butt Lesterre Durant I. v. 61 The windows looking north. 1893Strand Mag. VI. 268/2 The dining-room looks on to the Melbury Road.
b. Of parts of the body, or the like: To face or turn (in a particular direction).
1656Ridgley Pract. Physic 243 The Knee and Foot look inwards. 1692Sir W. Hope Fencing-Master (ed. 2) 17 The points of your Fingers must not look upwards, but pointing towards your Adversary. 1776–96Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 388 Bearing the flowers underneath, the florets looking downwards. 1863Huxley Man's Place Nat. i. 23 Their nostrils have a narrow partition, and look downwards.
8. a. To show a tendency; to tend, point (in a particular direction).
1647Power of Kings iv. 84 The context looketh wholly that way. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 188 The Argument drawn from Gods unbounded power and goodness, as looking towards the behoof of the Creature will ever fall short upon this score. 1692R. L'Estrange Josephus' Antiq. ii. ix. (1733) 44 The Barbarity of this bloody Decree look'd several ways. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 42 Its sense seems to look that way. c1800K. White Lett. (1837) 328 He thinks it looks towards epilepsy. 1869Goulburn Purs. Holiness x. 93 In this direction look the words of our Lord to St. Thomas. 1881P. Greg Ivy III. vi. 122 All the facts look the other way.
†b. To tend to, promise to. Obs. rare.
1607Shakes. Cor. iii. iii. 29 He speakes What's in his heart, and that is there which lookes With vs to breake his necke.
III. To have a certain appearance. [App. in part developed from 1 c; but cf. the similar use in passive sense of other verbs of perception, like smell, taste, feel.]
9. a. intr. To have the appearance of being; to seem to the sight. (This sense when used of persons often retains some mixture of the notion of 1 c.) Const. a predicative n. or adj., or a predicative adv. (as well, ill = ‘in good, bad health’).
For the fig. phr. to look black, blue, foolish, small, etc., see the adjs.
c1400Destr. Troy 8742 Ymages..Lokend full lyuely as any light angels. 1500–20Dunbar Poems liii. 37 God waith gif that scho loukit sour! 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 266 Resolueth all the grosenesse of the oyle, and maketh it to loke clere. 1658Wood Life 5 Apr., He look'd elderly and was cynical and hirsute in his behavior. 1697Dryden æneid xi. 99 All pale he lies, and looks a lovely Flow'r. 1712Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 486 'Twould have look'd vain, and ostentatious. 1715Pope Iliad iii. 208 She moves a Goddess, and she looks a Queen! 1761F. Sheridan Sidney Biddulph I. 18 He is grown fat, and looks quite robust. 1788Cowper Pity for poor Africans, You speak very fine, and you look very grave. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester (1806) I. 65 Henry looked in great anxiety. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art i. 1, I see that some of my hearers look surprised at the expression. 1871M. Arnold Friendship's Garland v. 36 ‘You made me look rather a fool, Arminius’, I began. 1886B. M. Butt Lesterre Durant I. xix. 304 London was certainly not looking its best. 1888Sarah Tytler Blackhall Ghosts II. xvii. 65 Kitty did not look the lady she was not. 1897Windsor Mag. Jan. 274/1 No. 1..looked such a much larger house than it was..No. 2..was such a much larger house than it looked.
b. with adv. of manner († or advb. phrase): To have a certain look or appearance.
This use is often indiscriminately condemned, but is justly censurable only where look is virtually equivalent to seem, so that it requires a predicative complement and not a qualification of manner. (So, e.g., in quot. 1645.) Owing, however, to the prejudice excited by the inaccurate use, look now rarely occurs with advs. of manner other than well, ill, badly. In some early instances the apparent adv. may possibly be an adj. in -ly1.
a1300XV Signa 56 in E.E.P. (1862) 9 Hi sul..lok as bestis þat cun no witte. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 189 So hungriliche [1362 A. v. 108 hungri] and holwe sire Heruy hym loked. 1542Boorde Dyetary xxxix. (1870) 300 For that wyll cause a man to loke agedly. 1546J. Heywood Prov. 50 Though your pasture looke barreinly and dull. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cv. viii, Watry Nilus lookes with bloudy face. 1610Shakes. Temp. iii. i. 32 You looke wearily. Ibid. iv. i. 146 You doe looke (my son) in a mou'd sort. 1611― Wint. T. iii. iii. 3 The skies looke grimly. 1645T. Hill Olive Branch (1648) 40 This would make you look more amiably and smell more sweetly. 1683Tryon Way to Health xix. (1697) 413 How base a thing it is, and how unnaturally it looks, that men should value Money more than the Law of God. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 21 Points and Corners advancing..look very ill upon the Ground. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. i. (1840) 7 The world looked awkwardly round me. Ibid. ii. xv. 314 To see who looked with most guilt in their faces. 1781Cowper Retirement 567 Nature indeed looks prettily in rhyme. 1802Mrs. J. West Infidel Father II. 188 Do I also look meanly in her eyes? 1826Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 57 Fields of Swedish turnips, all looking extremely well. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 497 On the whole, however, things as yet looked not unfavourably for James. 1855Ibid. xx. IV. 471 It tasked all the art of Kneller to make her look tolerably on canvass. 1891Sir A. Wills in Law Times XCI. 233/2 Things had, by that time, begun to look badly for all concerned.
c. Const. inf. To seem to the view. lit. and fig.
1775Burke Sp. Conc. Amer. Sel. Wks. I. 192 It looks to me to be narrow and pedantic, to apply the ordinary ideas of criminal justice to this great public contest. 1793W. Roberts Looker-On No. 84 (1794) III. 345 To make a display..looks to be, with the major part, the real object which assembles them. 1890Clark Russell Ocean Trag. I. vi. 123 A little hat that looked to be made of beaver. 1893Graphic 25 Mar. 298/1 The Queen looked to be in good health.
d. to look as if (or † as) ―: to have an appearance suggesting the belief that ―. Often with indefinite subject, it looks (or things look) as if ―.
1500–20Dunbar Poems liii. 9 He leuket as he culd lern tham a. 1611B. Jonson Catiline iv. v, Looke they, as they were built to shake the world? a1700Dryden Flower & Leaf 57, I took the way, Which through a path, but scarcely printed, lay;..And looked as lightly pressed by fairy feet. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 91 It looks as if Physicians learnt their Gibberish for no other purpose, than to embroil what they do not understand. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. (1898) 11 It looks to me as if I were in a great crisis. 1809Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ⁋27 Pedro was dumb-founded, and looked as if he could not help it. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 774 This looks as if Harold were now quartered in Denmark. 1892St. Nicholas Mag. XIV. 538/1 It looked as if there was going to be a free fight. 1898F. Montgomery Tony 9 She looked as if she were thoroughly bored.
e. quasi-trans. To have an appearance befitting or according with (one's character, condition, assumed part, etc.). to look one's age: to have the appearance of being as old as one is. to look oneself: to appear to be in one's usual health.
1828Examiner 756/1 She looked the character extremely well. 1842L. Hunt Men, Women & B. (1876) 373 Though people do not always seem what they are, it is seldom they do not look what they can do. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxxiv, But what's the matter, George?..you don't look yourself. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xvii. 187 She looked her full forty-three years. 1883Manch. Exam. 29 Oct. 5/3 Miss Anderson looked the part to perfection. 1891L. Merrick Violet Moses II. xii. 134 He assuredly did not look his age.
10. look like.
a. To have the appearance of being. (See like A. 1 b ¶ .) Also, (it) looks like: it seems likely (colloq., chiefly U.S.).
c1440York Myst. xxx. 273 He lokis like a lambe. 1581J. Studley Hippolytus 67 Lyke lusty young Perithous he looketh in the face. 1628Earle Microcosm., High Spirited Man (Arb.) 91 One that lookes like a proud man but is not. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. v. §3 There is some thing looks very like this in the proceedings of the people of Israel against the Prophet Jeremiah. 1699T. Baker Refl. Learning 58 This Plan, as laid down by him, looks liker an Universal Art than a distinct Logic. 1711Addison Spect. No. 50 ⁋8 The Women look like Angels. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 606 He had a humour in his leg, which looked like the beginning of the gout. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. (end), My dear 'squire, this looks like a lad of spirit. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 40 The payment in kind, and not in money, looks like a customary acknowledgement from an old established guild. 1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 She..looked like a monument planted there. 1910W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 55 Your cook, Anderson, kid-napped the child, looks like to me. 1929J. Buchan Courts of Morning 13, I admitted that it looked like it, and said that if Blenkiron had been captured by bandits..his captors had done the worst day's work of their lives. 1936M. Mitchell Gone with Wind i. i. 11 Don't it look to you like she would of asked us to stay for supper? 1970N. Marsh When in Rome v. 127 ‘Wouldn't it be a yell if..you were The Man?’ ‘Do I look like it?’ 1972G. Bromley In Absence of Body viii. 101 ‘And now I suppose you've got to find a replacement?’ ‘Looks like it.’ 1973Guardian 31 Jan. 4/7 Looks like your child's birthday is news again this year.
b. with gerund, vbl. n., or occas. n.: To give promise of, show a likelihood of.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 585 Thou look'st not like deceipt; do not deceiue me. 1747Gentl. Mag. XVII. 383 Parties may be abolish'd, but the late dissolution of the parliament don't look much like it. 1883J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 158 Later on, indeed, after supper, he grew worse—looked like biting—and..tore the bouquet in pieces. 1888H. F. Lester Hartas Maturin II. ii. 34 It looks like rain. 1973A. Broinowski Take One Ambassador ii. 21, I look like being in and out of the office a lot in the next few days.
IV. Specialized uses with prepositions.
11. look about ―. (Cf. 25.)
a. To turn one's eyes to, or make searches in various parts of (a room, etc.); to go about observing in (a country, town, etc.).
1375Barbour Bruce iii. 579 Men mycht se mony frely fute About the costis thar lukand. 1530Palsgr. 614/1, I loke aboute the contraye, je pourjecte le pais. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 28 [He] leapte out of his bed and loked about the chambre. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 255 Iago, looke with care about the Towne.
b. With pron. (used refl.), to look about one: to turn one's eyes or attention to surrounding objects; to consider, or take account of, one's position and circumstances; to be watchful or apprehensive.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xix. 87 Sum of þam..er lukand douneward to þe erthe, and will noȝt luke aboute þam. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop v. v, Whanne the catte was vpon a tree he loked aboute hym and sawe how the dogges [etc.]. 1562Cooper Answ. Priv. Masse Pref. Rdr., A man maye thinke they had good cause to startle at the matter, and somewhat to loke aboute them, leste they seemed altogether carelesse. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 141 Master, master, looke about you: Who goes there? ha. 1666–72Harvey Morb. Angl. vii. 18 If upon these Signs, you find a wasting of your flesh, then look about you. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull i. xii, John began to think it high time to look about him. 1744Ozell tr. Brantome's Sp. Rhodomontades 104 [They] had found the Enemy upon them, before they could look about 'em. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 173 At length he returned; and, without having a single week to look about him,..he was at once set to rule the state. 1891Strand Mag. II. 482/1 He looked about him anxiously.
12. look after ―.
a. To follow with the eye; to look in the direction of (a person departing); fig. to think regretfully of (something past). † Also, to observe the course of (a person).
971Blickl. Hom. 121 Þa hie þa in þone heofon locodan æfter him, & hie Drihten ᵹesawon upastiᵹendne. 1535Coverdale Exod. xxxiii. 8 All the people rose vp,..and loked after Moses, tyll he was gone in to the Tabernacle. 1580Sidney Ps. xxxvii. vii, Thou shalt see The wicked by his own pride banisht; Looke after him, he shall be vanisht. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 219. 1858 Bushnell Serm. New Life xi. (1869) 153 His soul still looking covertly after the goods she has lost.
†b. To search for. Obs.
c1330Spec. Gy Warw. 786 Tweye manere shame men fint in boke, Who-so wole þerafter loke. a1425Cursor M. 11086 (Trin.) Þenne loked aftir sir Zakary tables & poyntel tyte. c1449Pecock Repr. 77 Such that his suer treuthe is not lokid aftir neither souȝt aftir. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 55 That man of hers, Pisanio,..I haue not seene these two dayes. Go, looke after. 1711Addison Spect. No. 120 ⁋1 He has caught me twice or thrice looking after a Bird's Nest. 1727Boyer Eng.-Fr. Dict., To look after (to seek) a thing, chercher quelque chose.
†c. To anticipate with desire or fear; to look forward to. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 181 Þere þe lewed lith stille and loketh after lente. 1393Ibid. C. iv. 249 Þe lest lad þat longeþ to hym..Lokeþ after lordshep oþer oþere large mede. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxx. 78 They were lokyng after their help til they were deceyued. 1477Paston Lett. III. 194 He lokyth afftr that ye sholde come see hym. 1533Gau Richt Vay 37 Ve lwik efter ane blissit hop and the glorious cuming of the greit God. a1555Ridley Confer. w. Latimer (1556) E 7, Hetherunto ye se..how I haue in wordes onely made..a florishe before the fight, which I shortly loke after. 1611Bible Luke xxi. 26.
d. To seek for, demand (qualities).
1604Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 251 The knaue..hath all those requisites in him, that folly and greene mindes looke after. 1692Locke Educ. §94 Wks. 1714 III. 41 There is yet another Reason, why Politeness of Manners, and Knowledge of the World, should principally be look'd after in a Tutour. 1822Coleridge Lett., Convers., etc. II. 98 Those marks which too frequently are overlooked,..but which ought to be looked for and looked after, by every woman who has ever reflected on the words ‘my future Husband’.
e. To busy oneself about, concern oneself with; to give consideration to, consider.
1650Cromwell Let. 17 July in Carlyle, O how good it is to close with Christ betimes: there is nothing else worth looking after. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §3 God himself did dispense with the strict ceremoniall precepts of the Law, where men did look after the main and substantiall parts of the worship God required from them. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. ii. 162 My Subject does not necessarily oblige me to look after this Water, or to point forth the place whereinto 'tis now retreated. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Alex. i. 430 He could not look after his Sons' Education. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 536 Under pretence of looking after the election, Clarendon set out for the West.
f. To attend to; to take care of; to ‘see to’ the safety or well-being of.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 616 Eftir the fyre he lukit fast. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 146 Saist thou so (old Iacke)..Ile make more of thy olde body then I haue done: will they yet looke after thee? 1601― Twel. N. i. v. 144 He's in the third degree of drinke: hee's drown'd: go looke after him. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 341 The many Boys I have had to look after my Horses. 1777Sheridan Sch. for Scand. ii. i, I shall just call in to look after my own character. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, You must look after the pony and the pigs. 1885F. Anstey Tinted Venus 30 The person who ‘looked after him’ did not sleep on the premises. 1891Law Times XCI. 32/2 In theory, no doubt, the investor should look after his own interests.
g. To keep watch upon. ? rare.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 148 Is Lechery so look'd after? 1672C. Manners in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 25 Our Navy puts out again to sea..and wee shall then looke after the Holland Indian fleete. 1821Examiner 742/1 The police look after all breaches of the peace.
†13. look against ―. To look at (something dazzling). Obs.
a1225Leg. Kath. 1597 Swuch leome & liht leitede þrinne, Þæt ne mahten ha nawt lokin þer aȝeines. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 254 Shee is too bright to be look'd against.
look at ―. See senses 1 and 3.
14. look behind ―. With pron. used refl. (For literal uses see 1 a and behind prep.) not or never to look behind one: colloq., to have an uninterrupted career of advancement or prosperity.
1852Serj. Bellasis in E. Bellasis Mem. (1893) 150 He did not look behind him, but got better and better.
look beside ―. See beside prep. 4 a.
15. look for ―.
a. To expect, to hope for, anticipate, be on the watch for.
c1513Q. Kath. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 153 The Scotts being soo besy..and I lokyng for my departing every houre. 1526Tindale 2 Pet. iii. 13 Neverthelesse we loke for a neve heven and a newe erth accordynge to his promes. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John 74 a, If thou be that very Messias whome we look for, tell it vs openly without all colour. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 21 Into England, where he was sooner arryved than he was looked for. 1611Bible Matt. xi. 3 Art thou hee that should come? Or doe wee looke for another? 1684Contempl. State Man i. vii. (1699) 77 Death steals..upon us, when we least look for it. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 121 We may look for the residuum..to be in general very compound. 1828Examiner 403/1 We must not look for figs from brambles. 1853Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 229, I must write..to tell them they may look for me any day. 1868Bain Ment. & Mor. Sci. 161 Looking for favour, we may encounter contumely. 1887E. F. Byrrne Heir without Heritage I. iii. 56, I look for you to join us.
ellipt.a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 47 Informed by his espialles that the daie of battaill was nerer then he loked for. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 332 Henrie tariet langre thair than ony man luiket for.
b. To seek, to search for.
1586Whitney Choice of Emblems To Rdr. (1866), A pearle shall not bee looked for in a poore mans purce. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 3 Which way haue you look'd for Master Caius. 1861G. W. Dasent Burnt Njal I. 31 He had best look for a wife. 1871R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 39 It..studies to find the higher unity..by looking for a uniting power. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 52 People who sweep the house to look for a thing. 1892Black & White 26 Nov. 609/2 Caroline went to look for her a few hours afterwards.
c. Sc. To look at, to observe.
1785Burns Halloween x, Nell's heart was dancin' at the view, She whisper'd Rob to leuk for't.
16. look into ―.
¶a. After L. respicere in of the Vulgate: To have respect to. Obs.
a1400Prymer (1891) 56 (Ps. ci[i.]) He lokede in to [Vulg. respexit in] the preiere of meeke men.
b. To direct one's sight to the interior of. (See 1 a and into prep.) Also, to consult (a book) in a cursory manner.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xxi. 21 To axe Councell at the Idols, and to loke in to the lyuer. a1674Clarendon Surv. Leviath. (1676) 336 Not only that the Scriptures are the Mount,..but that they may not be look'd into. 1709Steele Tatler No. 47 ⁋5, I so far observed his Counsel, that I looked into Shakespear. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. v. §17 To be convinced of this truth, you need only look into Thucydides. 1832Tennyson Mariana in South 75 An image seem'd..To look into her eyes and say, [etc.]. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 99 The fisherman, looking into the lake saw in it fish of different colours. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 27 With such feelings, both parties looked into the chronicles of the middle ages. Both readily found what they sought.
c. To examine (a matter) minutely; to investigate (a question).
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 37 Those imperfections..you by the daily mending of your mind haue of late bin able to looke into them, which before you could not discerne. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 245 Well, I wil looke further into 't. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. iii. 86 Let vs now looke into the temperature of Panama and all that coast. 1689Tryal Bps. 126 The only thing that is to be lookt into. 1859Tennyson Enid 1771 Thither came The King's own leech to look into his hurt. 1879Huxley Hume vi. 117 It is needful to look narrowly into the propositions here laid down. 1890A. Gissing Village Hampden III. i. 15 Read your newspapers; look into the rights of things.
d. To enter (a house, etc.) for a few moments in passing. Cf. look in (37 b).
1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 296 It is said..that His Majesty deigned to look into the tennis court.
†17. look of ―. Confusedly used for look on.
1530Tindale Deut. vi. 4–7 marg., It is heresy with vs for a laye man to loke of gods worde or to reade it. 1570T. Wilson tr. Demosthenes' Olynthiacs Ep. to Sir W. Cecil, Often he woulde englyshe his matters out of the Latine or Greeke vpon the sodeyne, by looking of the booke onely. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv, Curt. And where didst meet him? Pil... Within 40 foot of the Gallowes, conning his neck-verse I take it, looking of a Fryars Execution.
18. look on ―. (See also senses 1 and 3.)
a. To pay regard to; to hold in esteem; to respect; = look upon, 24 a. Now dial.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 175 [He] shewed to them his letters Patentes, but neither he nor his writyng, was once regarded or looked on. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vii. 22, I am not look'd on in the world. 1689Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 616 Father Petre is now at Rome, but is not much lookt on there. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede li, He'd be a fine husband for anybody,..so looked-on an' so cliver as he is.
b. To regard or consider as; = look upon, 24 c.
1629Earle Microcosm., Good old Man (Arb.) 89 All men looke on him as a common father. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. ii. §9 Mercuriall books,..which none of the wiser Heathens did ever look on as any other then Fables. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 606 So they looked on him as a dead man. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 240 It was to be looked on as an evidence, that [etc.]. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. i. 190, I should look on them as omens of bad success. 1892Monthly Packet Mar. 316 Every one..looked on victory as certain.
c. To regard with a specified feeling; = look upon, 24 b.
1846Keble Serm. xiii. (1848) 325 As, in medicine, wise men look coldly on remedies which profess to be quite perfect and infallible. 1878R. H. Hutton Scott ix. 93 A publisher..looks on authors' MSS...with distrust. 1881Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. iii. 40 Edwin and Morcar..looked on him with family jealousy.
d. to look on (or to) the bright (or worst, etc.) side: to regard or consider something with optimism (or dismay, etc.). Cf. side n.1 10.
a1784Johnson in E. Fuller Thesaurus Quots. (1941) 667/1 The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year. 1833W. F. Hook Let. 9 Dec. in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. W.F. Hook (1878) I. iv. 258, I am a bit of an optimist, I always look to the bright side of things. 1839[see bright a. 1 e]. 1848J. Ruskin Let. 17 Mar. in M. Lutyens Ruskins & Grays (1972) xi. 98 My disposition is to look to the worst side of things and..I feared you were entirely ruined. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxiv. 82 Well, of course, if you can look on the bright side, pray do. 1914R. Frost North of Boston 69 But I don't count on it as much as Len. He looks on the bright side of everything. 1942‘P. Wentworth’ Pursuit of Parcel xi. 51 Well, ducks, I shouldn't take on. Look on the bright side.
19. look over ―. (See also simple senses and over prep.)
a. To peruse or inspect cursorily; † to examine, pass in review.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. ii. 38 Euery man looke ore his part: for..our play is preferred. 1675South Serm. (1823) I. 301 Look over the whole creation, and you shall see, that [etc.]. 1684Creech tr. Juvenal xiii. 164 Look o'er the present and the former time. 1780C. A. Burney in Mad. D'Arblay's Early Diary (1889) II. 288 My father and him next went to looking over the prints. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. (1859) 3 When..I look over the hints and memorandums I have taken down. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 369 The plantation would be looked over every year, and the weakest trees..taken out. 1855Ld. Houghton in T. W. Reid Life (1891) I. xi. 527 Mrs. Gaskell asked me to come and look over Miss Brontë's papers.
b. To ignore, leave out of consideration. Now only, to overlook, pardon (a fault).
1666Bunyan Grace Ab. ⁋50 Though I endeavoured at the first to look over the business of Faith. 1887Murray's Mag. II. 425 He forgave her, and looked over her conduct. 1890A. Gissing Village Hampden II. xii. 263 Let us just warn the man, and look over it this time.
c. Sc. To look after, take care of.
1790Burns Kind Sir, I've read 21 Royal George, the Lord leuk o'er him.
20. look through ―. (Cf. 43.)
a. To direct one's sight through (an aperture, a transparent body, or something having interstices); also fig. † to look through one's fingers at: to pretend not to see; to connive at. † to look through a hempen window: to be hanged.
1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 15 Throw pykis of the plet thorne I presandlie luiket, Gif ony persoun wald approche. 1549Latimer 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 152 Thei loke thorow ther fyngers and wil not se it. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 289 Since your eyes are so sharpe, that you cannot onely looke through a milstone, but cleane through the minde. 1592Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 202 He lookes Quite through the Deeds of men. 1601― All's Well ii. iii. 226 So my good window of Lettice fare thee well, thy casement I neede not open, for I look through thee. c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 1 For revenge Henry VIII looked through his fingers at the preachers of the Reformed Religion. 1627J. Taylor (Water P.) Armado Wks. (1630) i. 77/2 Making their wills at Wapping or looking thorow a hempen window at St. Thomas Waterings. 1628Earle Microcosm., Meere Formall Man (Arb.) 30 When you haue seene his outside, you haue lookt through him. 1709Steele Tatler No. 44 ⁋5 The World is grown too wise, and can look through these thin Devices. 1830Tennyson Lilian 10 She, looking thro' and thro' me, Thoroughly to undo me, Smiling, never speaks. 1870Bryant Iliad I. iv. 123 Why look through The spaces that divide the warlike ranks?
†b. To be visible through. Obs.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr., Induct. ii. 12 Such shooes as my toes look through the ouer-leather. 1602― Ham. iv. vii. 152 That our drift looke through our bad performance, 'Twere better not assaid.
c. To direct one's view over the whole of; to peruse cursorily from end to end; to glance through (a book).
1565Golding Ovid's Met. ii. (1567) 16 Looke through the worlde so round..aske what thou lykest best. 1633Ford 'Tis Pity i. i, Looke through the world, And thou shalt see a thousand faces shine More glorious, then this Idoll thou ador'st. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 32 But of this frame the bearings, and the ties,..Gradations just, has thy pervading soul Look'd thro'? 1858Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. xiv. 452, I looked through ―'s two volumes.
21. look to ―. (See also 1, 3, 6, and to prep.)
a. To direct a look or glance to. In early use chiefly Sc., equivalent to the mod. look at (see 3 a).
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 321 Than lukit he awfully thame to. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 356 Þane stud þe monk..to þe erde lukand. c1450Holland Howlat 900 He lukit to his lykame that lemyt so licht. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 120, I dar nought luk to my luf for that lene gib. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 77 (1604 Qo.), The very place puts toyes of desperation..into euery brain That lookes so many fadoms to the sea And heares it rore beneath. 1611Bible 1 Sam. xvi. 12 He was..of a beautifull countenance, and goodly to looke to. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 123 We looked to the sky at intervals.
b. To direct one's attention to; to select for consideration. In Biblical use, occas. to regard with favour.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xli. 300 To hwæm lociᵹe ic buton to ðæm eaðmodum? 1340Ayenb. 89 Hy ssolden loki to hare zoþe uorbysne Ihesu crist. c1400Cursor M. 28877 (Cott. Galba) Crist lukes noght to þe almus dede,..bot efter gude will of þe gifer. a1569A. Kingsmill Confl. Satan (1578) 5 Loke to thy former wayes what they have bene. 1580Sidney Ps. xviii. vii, I walk'd his [God's] waies,..Still to his judgmentes look't. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. iii. 126 Speaking..of the qualitie of the windes, we must..looke to the coastes or partes of the world from whence they proceede. 1611Bible Isa. lxvi. 2 To this man will I looke, even to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit. 1844Mill Ess. 87 If we look only to the effects which are intended. 1847Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. i. 12 Graziers look more to quality than quantity of wool. 1891Law Times XCII. 18/2 We incline to think that there will be an appeal,..looking to the terms of sect. 49 of the Judicature Act.
c. To attend to, take care of; † to tend, nurse (a sick person).
a1300St. Gregory 1088 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LVII. 70 An holy man..þat dygne were þer to done [sc. to be made pope] and cristendome to loke to. c1320Cast. Love 1659 And ȝe comforted me in prison eke, And loked to me when I was seke. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 152 b, After the death of this prelate,..the affayres in Fraunce, were neither well loked to, nor [etc.]. 1549Latimer Serm. Ploughers (Arb.) 24 Ye that be prelates loke well to your office. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 412 Come go with vs, wee'l looke to that anon. 1611Bible Jer. xxxix. 12 Take him, and looke well to him, and doe him no harme. 1840Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk., Beatrice Merger, Mother would never let me leave her, because I looked to my little brothers. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 635 He ordered his own surgeon to look to the hurts of the captive. 1864Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXV. i. 88 The cider should be looked to every morning. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. vii, The yard gate-lock should be looked to, if you please; it don't catch.
d. In the imperative or in injunctive contexts: To direct one's solicitude to (something) as endangered or needing improvement.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. iii. 39 My Liege beware, looke to thy selfe. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. ii. 1880 Fellow looke to your braines; you are mad. 1630Hales Gold. Rem. i. (1673) 281 The Refuter must be sure to look to the strength of his reasons. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vii, ‘Look to your steps’, said a voice. 1813Shelley Q. Mab iv. 237 Look to thyself, priest, conqueror, or prince! 1869T. Hughes Alfred Gt. iii. 35 It behoved even the Holy Father to look to his fighting gear. 1889Repent. P. Wentworth II. v. 118 Then look to your own ways and manners, sir!
e. to look to it: to be careful, beware. Often with clause, to take care, see that.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 34 There is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living; and we ought to look to 't. 1600― A.Y.L. iii. i. 4 Looke to it, Finde out thy brother wheresoere he is. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal i. i. (Arb.) 45 Thun. Let the Critiques look to 't. Light. Let the Ladies look to 't. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 30 And they have reason to look well to it. 1842Tennyson Dora 26 In my time a father's word was law, And so shall it be now for me. Look to it. 1892Gd. Words May 292/1 She would look to it that they had a roof over their heads.
f. To keep watch upon.
c1400Destr. Troy 6257 Lokis well to þe listes, þat no lede passe! a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 58 b, His kepers looked more narrowly to hym then thei did before. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) II. 235 He committed him to the keeping of certeine gentlemen, which without much courtesie looked streightlie inough to him for starting awaie. 1593Nottingham Rec. IV. 238 That all the alhousess of the back syd of the town may be loukte tow. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 83 For two yeares hee [a prisoner] was strictly lookt too. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 209 And then desires the Keeper to take A. B. the Prisoner from the Bar, and look to him, for he stands convicted of High Treason. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 167 Constable, look to your prisoner. 1819Shelley Cenci iv. iv. 54 Sound the alarm; Look to the gates that none escape!
g. To direct one's expectations to; to rely on (a person, etc.) for something.
1611Bible Ecclus. xxxiv. 15 Blessed is the soule of him that feareth the Lord: to whom doeth he looke? 1806Windham Speech 22 Dec., ‘Man and steel, the soldier and his sword’, are the only productions of a country that can be looked to with confidence for its protection and security. 1822Examiner 227/2 To them then are the holders..to look for payment? 1885Law Times Rep. LIII. 226/2 The consignee is the person to whom a carrier looks for the price of the carriage of goods. 1892Blackw. Mag. CLI. 220/2, I look to you to help us.
h. To look forward to (see 36); to expect, count upon.
1782Cowper Table Talk 495 A terrible sagacity informs The poet's heart, he looks to distant storms, He hears the thunder ere the tempest lowers. 1804Wellesley in Owen Desp. 274 The French have never ceased to look to the re-establishment of their power. 1824Examiner 108/1 Baron Gifford..looks to the Seals, when Lord Eldon retires. 1845Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 31 Clerkships in the public offices is the line of employment which the body of them look to.
i. To show affinity to. rare.
1835Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xxiv. 514 The bear seems to look towards the sloth; and the feline race, in their whiskers and feet, look to the hares and rats.
22. a. look toward(s ―. (See simple senses and toward, towards prep.)
a1240Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Leoue louerd iesu crist loke toward me ase ich ligge lowe. a1310in Wright Lyric P. 69 Ihesu,..With thine suete eȝen loke towart me. 1821Shelley Epipsych. 516, I have fitted up some chambers there Looking towards the golden Eastern air.
b. to look towards a person: in vulgar speech, to drink his health (? obs. exc. jocular). Also, to look at (a person).
1848Thackeray Van. Fair liii, The ladies drank to his 'ealth, and Mr. Moss, in the most polite manner ‘looked towards him’. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green ii. iii, The Pet..drank their healths with the prefatory remark ‘I looks to-wards you gents!’ 1880Stevenson & Henley Deacon Brodie i. 24 Deacon, I looks towards you. 1890B. L. Farjeon Mystery of M. Felix I. iii. 26 Mrs. Middlemore,..you're a lady after my own heart... Here's looking towards you. 1910A. Noyes Coll. Poems I. 241, I looks to-wards you, Prester John, you've done us very proud! 1930J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel i. 119 ‘Pard, have that on me.’.. ‘Thanks, here's lookin at you.’
c. = look to, 21 i (where see quot. 1835).
1879A. W. Tourgee Fool's Errand xliv. 330 There could be nothing looking towards marriage between us. 1903A. T. Hadley Relations between Freedom & Responsibility 15 A series of negotiations rather than discussions, looking toward compromise rather than toward mutual enlightenment. 1904T. N. Page in McClure's Mag. 621 The South regarded jealously any teaching of the Negroes which looked toward equality. 1932T. J. Grayson Leaders & Periods Amer. Finance xiii. 278 The thing to do was to take no precipitate action looking toward resumption.
23. look unto ―. arch. = look to, in various senses: see 21 a–f.
a1300Cursor M. 14333 Iesus he loked vnto þe lift. 1526Tindale Heb. xii. 2 Lokynge vnto Iesus, the auctor and fynnyssher of oure fayth. 1545Raymond Byrth Mankynde Y v, In a fayre garden..if it be not regarded and loken vnto, the weedes..wyll [etc.]. a1550Freiris Berwik 99 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 288 The gudwyf lukit vnto the Freiris tway. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 292 For ere that unto armes I me betooke, Unto my fathers sheepe I usde to looke. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 208 Then lets make haste away, And looke vnto the maine. 1598tr. Aristotle's Politiques 379 And it should especially be looked vnto children, that they neither heare nor see such things. 1611Bible Isa. xlv. 22 Looke vnto mee, and be ye saued. 1642C. Vernon Consid. Exch. 88 Abuses..will grow like ill weeds..unless they be looked unto and weeded out.
24. look upon ―. (See also senses 1 and 3.)
†a. To pay regard to; esp. to regard favourably, hold in esteem; = look on, 18 a. Obs.
c1515in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 181 Yf yt had nott ben lokyd upon betymes, I suppose yt wold not have ben abull to have contynuyd a Monastery ffower yeres. 1533Cromwell Let. 9 July in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 357 For lacke..whereof ye haue forfaited to the kinges highnes the Somme of one thousande markes which..ye ought substaunciallye to loke uppon for the king is no person to be deluded..with all. 1533Gau Richt Vay 101 God hes lukit apone ye powerte of his madine or seruand. 1611Bible 2 Macc. vii. 6 The Lord God looketh vpon vs.
b. With adv. or adj. complement: To regard with a certain expression of countenance, or with a certain feeling; = look on, 18 c.
1619Middleton Inner Temple Masque 23 The nearest kin I have looks shy upon me. 1629Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 61 The Romane Citizens being thus surrounded with direfull mis-haps..begaune to look sowre upon Commodus. 1633Massinger Guardian iv. ii, I look with sore eyes upon her good fortune, and wish it were mine own. 1711Addison Spect. No. 37 ⁋5, I look upon her with a mixture of Admiration and Pity. 1740tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) I. 273, I fancied he look'd something sweet upon me. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xxv, Edward was..satisfied that he was not quite looked upon with indifference by Patience Heatherstone. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 56 And all men look'd upon him favourably.
c. To regard as, † to consider to be so-and-so (cf. 18 b). † Also, to look upon it: to be of opinion that.
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §9 Both Pythagoras and Plato looked upon constitutionem sylvæ to bee opus providentiæ. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. Advt., A Change of Circumstances, has occasion'd the Publication of these Papers,..in such a way as will make most Readers look upon them as containing a story purely Romantick. 1674Brevint Saul at Endor 237 It is lookt upon, as one of those very strange things, which if she doth, it is seldome. 1711Addison Spect. No. 31 ⁋2 This Objection was looked upon as frivolous. Ibid. No. 191 ⁋7 This Morning..I set up an Equipage which I look upon to be the gayest in the Town. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 151 The antients looked upon water as the..first principle of all created things. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §300, I now looked upon it that we might think ourselves secure. 1822Examiner 203/1 You are looked upon as a kind lord.
V. With adverbs.
25. look about. intr. See simple senses and about adv.; fig. to be on the watch, on the look-out. Also const. for († after): to be in search of. (Cf. to look about one, 11 b.)
a1300K. Horn 1087 He lokede aboute, Myd is collede snoute. 1375Barbour Bruce xix. 669 The fox..Lukit about sum hoill to se. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 347 She loked euer about as though she had be mad. a1425Cursor M. 11744 (Trin.) As þei to gider talkyng were þei loked aboute fer & nere. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xx. 445 And whan rowlande was come out of the cave, he loked about for to know where they were. 1530Palsgr. 613/2, I loke aboute, as one dothe that taketh the vewe of a place or contray. 1566W. Adlington Apuleius vii. xiii. (1893) 152 The shepheards looking about for a Cow that they had lost. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 40 The day is broke, be wary, looke about. 1610― Temp. i. ii. 410. 1611 Bible Tobit xi. 5 Now Anna sate looking about towards the way for her sonne. 1704Norris Ideal World ii. x. 395 Like the man who..looks about after the candle which he has all the while on his own head. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 155 It was time to look about. 1750Student I. 323 The fidler..soon after enter'd..and then every man look'd about for his partner. Mod. The last time I saw him he was looking about for something to do.
26. look abroad. intr. See simple senses and abroad adv.
c1450[see abroad adv. 4]. 1664Waller From a Child 4 Before our Violets dare look abroad. 1784Cowper Task v. 738 He looks abroad into the varied field Of nature. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 192 The young men do not look abroad for a wife.
†27. look again, againward. intr. To look back. Also fig. Obs.
a1225Leg. Kath. 2351 Heo as me ledde hire, lokede aȝeinward, for ludinge þæt ha herde. c1320[see againward adv. 1]. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 41 No man sendynge his hond to þe plowȝ and lokenge a-ȝen is able to þe kyngdom of god. c1400[see again adv. 1 a].
†28. look aloft. intr. To aspire, be ambitious. Obs.
1533Frith Agst. Rastell (1829) 236 If the remnants of sin fortune at any time to look aloft and begin to reign, then he sendeth some cross of adversity or sickness to help to suppress them. 1567[see aloft 11]. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 162 By this mariage, Egeldred began to looke a loft, and thought much of himselfe.
†29. look alow. intr. To humble oneself.
1582Bentley Mon. Matrones ii. 33 There is no sainct so perfect..but looking a-lowe, shall find himselfe vnworthy, and so stop his mouth.
30. a. look around. intr. To look in several directions; fig. to take a comprehensive view of things.
1754A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 93 He looked around, and saw a reverend Form advance towards him. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest (1820) I. 185 Louis looked around in search of La Motte. 1847Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 239 When the Servians now looked around, they congratulated themselves on having made a successful campaign. 1880Newman Smyth Old Faiths in New Light ii. (1882) 32 We look around sceptical of our own impressions.
b. = look round (sense 42 c). Also, to search about for.
1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi xliii. 437 I'll look around a little, and if I can't do better I'll come back and take it. 1927H. Crane Let. 14 Mar. (1965) 290 I'm looking around for some sort of ‘avocation’. 1974‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Other Story x. 81 Upper servants are frequently left in residence as caretakers... If it happens at Elvedon, it will give you time to look around.
31. look aside. intr. To turn aside one's eyes; to look obliquely.
1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 225 On syde scho lukit wyth ane fremyt fare. 1530Palsgr. 613/2, I loke asyde by chaunce, or caste myn eye asyde. Ibid., I loke asyde upon one by disdayne. 1855Browning Andrea del Sarto 147 They pass and look aside.
look askance, askew, asquint: see the advs.
32. look back. intr.
a. To turn and look at something in the direction from which one is going or from which one's face is turned.
1538Elyot Dict., Respicio, to loke backe, to haue regarde [etc.]. a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 2 At yonder rising of the ground she turned her selfe, looking backe toward her woonted abode. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. v. 19 Looke back, defend thee, here are Enemies. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 641 They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat. 1712–14Pope Rape of Lock iii. 138 Thrice she look'd back, and thrice the foe drew near. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, Often they looked back to the convent, expecting to see lights issue from the avenue.
b. To direct the mind to something that is past; to think on the past. Const. into, on, upon, to.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 102 Gracious Lord..Looke back into your mightie Ancestors. 1651Baxter Saints' Rest iv. 130 Is it not a very little time when thou lookest back on it? 1711Steele Spect. No. 100 ⁋1 A Man advanced in Years that thinks fit to look back upon his former Life. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 200 He would have looked back with remorse on a literary life of near thirty years. 1889Mallock Enchanted Island 221 Experiences like these are always fresh to look back upon. 1892Eng. Illustr. Mag. IX. 331 One portion of my life is not pleasant to look back to.
†c. To look to a person for something. (? After L. respicere.) Obs.
1646P. Bulkeley Gospel Covt. i. 52 The whole creation lookes backe unto him that made it for preservation in their being.
†d. trans. = look back to. Obs.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xi. 53 See How I conuey my shame, out of thine eyes, By looking backe what I haue left behinde Stroy'd in dishonor.
e. colloq. in negative contexts: To show signs of retrogression or interrupted progress. (Cf. 14.)
1893Daily News 5 Jan. 3/6 Since that day St. Simon has never, to use a slang phrase of the day, ‘looked back.’ 1928Observer 17 June 27/4 Since they adopted the bold experiment..of changing the date of their regatta..Marlow Amateur Regatta has never looked back. 1936‘N. Blake’ Thou Shell of Death i. 17 His origin is shrouded in mystery... Turned up suddenly in the R.F.C. early in the war, and never looked back. 1949Radio Times 15 July 17/1 Jules Verne..wrote Five Weeks in a Balloon, scored an immediate success, and never looked back. 1973Times 23 Apr. 4/7 The play ran into the war, and she has never looked back.
33. look down.
a. intr. See simple senses and down adv.
c1200[see 45 a]. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvii. (Vincencius) 326 Keparis of þe presone, þat thru smal holis lokit done. c1470Henry Wallace v. 146 Vpon Fawdoun as he was lukand doune. 1562Pilkington Expos. Abdyas Pref. 3 Hee that sittes on hygh looked doune to the lowe dungeon of the pryson, and raised Joseph to be ruler. 1610Shakes. Temp. v. i. 201 Looke downe you gods And on this couple drop a blessed crowne. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. viii, I looked down upon the servants,..as if they had been pigmies, and I a giant. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 212 Thus is formed the promontory of Lincoln looking down upon the river to the South of it.
b. fig. to look down on, look upon: to hold in contempt, to scorn; to consider oneself superior to.
1711Addison Spect. No. 255 ⁋9 A solid and substantial Greatness of Soul looks down with a generous Neglect on the Censures and Applauses of the Multitude. 1728Veneer Sincere Penitent Ded., Looking down upon it with a generous contempt of all its vanities. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 85 The monks looked down upon the parsons, and stole their endowments from them. 1893Chamb. Jrnl. 29 July 476/1 They are..looked down upon and scorned.
†c. To have a downcast or mournful look.
1500–20Dunbar Poems lvi. 12 It is no glaid collatioun Quhair ane makis myrrie, ane vther lukis doun.
d. Comm. To tend downwards in price.
1806Ann. Reg. 49 The bounties would begin soon, in the language of 'Change Alley, to ‘be looking down’. 1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 173 Who, when the shares ‘look down’, try to sell.
e. trans. To quell or overcome by one's looks.
1812Niles' Reg. III. 45/2 Volunteer companies..are rolling to the frontiers, in force sufficient to look down opposition. 1837Knickerbocker IX. 361 We're a free trader..and are forced to go well armed, to look down all resistance. 1838J. F. Cooper Homeward Bound I. viii. 194 If the people cannot control and look down peculiarity..one might as well live in a despotism at once. 1840Dickens Humphrey's Clock, Clock-case 33, I never could look the boy down. 1847Mrs. Gore Castles in Air xxx. (1857) 285 Having no importunate witnesses present..to look me down while I was bragging.
34. look downward. intr. = look down, 33.
c1400,1562[see downward A. 1 b]. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 722 Look downward on the Globe whose hither side With light from hence, though but reflected, shines. 1823Examiner 104/1 Consols were rather looking downward.
35. look forth. intr. To look out (of a window, etc., on to something). Now arch. and poet.
c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1982 Then lokyd I forthe as Doctryne me badde. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 308, I salbe laith to lat him le, quhill I may luke furth. 1611Bible Song Sol. ii. 9 He looketh forth..at the windowe. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 209 Through the Firey Pillar and the Cloud God looking forth will trouble all his Host. c1775T. Lindsey Song, Look forth, look forth, my fairest! Thy faithful knight is nigh. 1781Cowper Friendship 80 Jealousy looks forth distressed On good that seems approaching. 1813Scott Rokeby i. i, The warder..from old Baliol's tower looks forth. 1828Lytton Pelham xvii, The chevalier looked wistfully forth.
36. look forward. intr. (See forward B. 1 b.) Const. to, occas. for, † on.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 61 Looke forward on the iournie you shall go. 1737Pope Hor. Ep. ii. ii. 314 Pleas'd to look forward, pleas'd to look behind. a1766F. Sheridan Nourjahad (1767) 71 The loss of Mandana imbitters all my joys, and methinks I begin to look forward with disgust. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 48 They..looked forward to the speedy expulsion of the intruders. 1861Thackeray Philip xxxii, The way in which we looked forward for letters from our bride and bridegroom. 1892Temple Bar Nov. 379 We were looking forward to a merry time.
37. look in.
a. See simple senses and in adv.
a1300Cursor M. 17288 + 188 (Cott.) Iohne..loked in & saȝe þe schetez, bot he dorst not gang in. 1483Cath. Angl. 223/2 To Luke jn, jnspicere. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlviii. 10 Me thocht Aurora..In at the window lukit by the day. 1535Coverdale Song Sol. ii. 9 He..loketh in at the wyndowe, & pepeth thorow the grate. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iv. 62 Here, through this Grate..Let vs looke in, the sight will much delight thee. 1830Tennyson Mermaid 26 That great sea-snake..Would..look in at the gate With his large calm eyes. 1839Longfellow Vill. Blacksm. iv, And children coming home from school Look in at the open door.
b. To enter a room, etc. for the purpose of seeing something; hence, in mod. use, to make a call, to call (upon a person); to ‘drop in’ for a short stay or interview.
1604Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 257 Looke in vpon me then, and speake with me. 1610― Temp. v. i. 167 This Cell's my Court:..pray you looke in. 1799in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. III. 121 To fashionably and carelessly look in at Tattersall's. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, Will 10'o'clock be too late to look in for half an hour? 1884G. Gissing Unclassed III. vi. i. 136 Could you manage to look in at the office tomorrow? 1890Clark Russell Ocean Trag. III. xxvi. 4 I'll look in upon him after breakfast. 1892Temple Bar Oct. 164 He would look in at the jeweller's at once and get her that bracelet. 1892Mrs. Oliphant Marriage Elinor II. xviii. 46 Some prodigious reception to which people ‘looked in’ for half an hour.
c. [After listen in, listen v. 2 e.] intr. To watch a television programme. colloq.
1927Pictorial Weekly 5 Mar. 100/1 We shall then ‘look-in’ by wireless and see events and scenes at a distance. 1928Daily Sketch 7 Aug. 11/1 The public..can ‘listen-in’ or ‘look-in’ to the transmissions. 1950Ann. Reg. 1949 418 At the end of October there were..206,000 [television] sets licensed and..as many as a million people regularly looking-in. 1959J. Boland Operation Red Carpet v. 67, I often look-in when he's on.
†38. look off. To turn one's eyes away. Obs.
1710–11Swift Jrnl. to Stella 4 Jan., No, no, look off, don't smile at me. 1738― Pol. Conv. 25 Why then, Mr. Neverout, do you see, if you don't much like it, you may look off of it. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) V. 113 Another small head of a man looking off.
39. look on. intr.
a. To direct one's looks towards an object in contemplation or observation; often, to be a mere spectator (and not a participator in the action). to look on ahead: to look forward into the future.
c1000ælfric Deut. xxviii. 32 Sin þine suna and þine dohtra ᵹeseald oðrum folce, þær þu on locie [L. videntibus oculis tuis]. c1315Shoreham (E.E.T.S.) i. 1295 So schulle þe rederes now Hy rede and conne on lowke. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 303 A trety of proprieteis..that salbe gude and prouffitable for all men that on lukis. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 38 Ile be a Candle⁓holder and looke on. 1628Earle Microcosm., Bowle Alley (Arb.) 61 He enioyes it that lookes on and bets not. 1744Ozell tr. Brantome's Sp. Rhodomontades 21 Miscarrying in that Design too, he contented himself, for a while, to lye-bye and look on. 1823J. F. Cooper Pioneers iii. (1869) 14/1 One who looked on a-head to the wants of posterity. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 63 Potters' boys are trained to the business by looking on at the wheel. 1879M. Pattison Milton x. 118 The world looks on and laughs.
b. colloq. to look on (with): to read from a book, etc., at the same time (with another person).
1893Cornh. Mag. Jan. 64 They seem to have had a scarcity of music, necessitating a good deal of ‘looking on’.
40. look out.
a. intr. (See simple senses and out.) To look from within a building or the like to the outside; also, to put one's head out of an aperture, e.g. a window.
1390Gower Conf. II. 352 That I be nyhte mai arise, At som wyndowe and loken oute. c1450Holland Howlat 63 To luke out on day licht. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 91 b, A prison and a man lokyng out at a grate. 1567Harman Caveat 38 [She] wente vnto her hall windowe..and loking out therat, pointed with her fingar. 1607Shakes. Timon v. i. 131 Lord Timon, Timon, Looke out, and speake to Friends. a1625Fletcher False One i. ii. (Song) Looke out, bright eyes, and blesse the ayre: Even in shadowes you are faire. 1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 13 Looking out at it [the doore] all afrighted. 1855Tennyson Maud i. ix. 3 The sun look'd out with a smile Betwixt the cloud and the moor.
transf.1809Malkin Gil Blas vii. ii. (Rtldg.) 5 They..looked out at the corners of their eyes.
†b. To appear, show itself. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 56 Her wanton spirites looke out At euery ioynt, and motiue of her body. 1606― Ant. & Cl. v. i. 50 The businesse of this man lookes out of him. 1607― Timon iii. ii. 80.
c. To be on the watch or look-out; to exercise vigilance, take care. (Cf. look-out.)
1602B. Jonson Poetaster ii. i, These Courtiers runne in my minde still; I must looke out. 1655C. Chauncy in Quincy Hist. Harvard Univ. (1840) I. 469 That..your petitioner..[may not be] enforced to look out to alter his condition. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) Pref., It is high time to look out, and set upon a resolute Course of Riding. 1740tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) I. 79 Let us look out sharp where we are, this is the Place we lost her in. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Look-out, The mate of the watch..calls often from the quarter-deck, ‘Look out afore there!’ 1829Landor Imag. Conv., Miguel & his Mother Wks. 1853 I. 560/1 Before that time I will look out sharply, and afterward you must. 1840Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. vi, ‘Look out’, said that envious McWhirter to me. 1886Besant Childr. of Gibeon ii. ix, You'd better look out. Melenda's in a rage. 1892Black & White 10 Sept. 301/2 We shall lose India if we don't look out.
d. To field, ‘scout’ (at cricket). ? nonce-use.
1837Dickens Pickw. vii, Several players were stationed, to ‘look out’, in different parts of the field.
e. to look out for: to watch or search for; to be on the look-out for; to await vigilantly.
1669Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 11 Some [are] so foolish now to cry the Duchess hath done itt, to looke out for love letters. 1712Steele Spect. No. 268 ⁋3 Where shall we find the Man who looks out for one who places her chief Happiness in the Practice of Virtue? 1742Berkeley Let. to Gervais 2 Feb., Wks. 1871 IV. 284, I wrote..to Dean Browne to look out for a six-stringed bass viol of an old make and mellow tone. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxvi, Prepare then this evening to look out for work against to-morrow. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxvi, Rely on my looking out for your safety. 1831O'Connell Speech Ho. Comm. 27 June, [They] begin to look out for disturbances—or as the sailors say, to look out for squalls. 1892Chamb. Jrnl. 4 June 361/2 I'll look out for something to do.
f. To have or afford an outlook (on, over, etc.).
1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 84 The great Portal of his Palace that looks out into the Royal square. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk., Roscoe (1821) I. 23 The windows of the study, which looked out upon the soft scenery I have mentioned. 1859Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 6 The back court that my windows look out on. 1866W. Collins Armadale I. 162 The bedroom looked out over the great front door. 1874Ruskin Hortus Inclusus (1887) 3 His own little cell, looking out on the olive woods.
†g. To make any brief excursion. (Cf. look in, 37 b.) Obs.
1551T. Wilson Rule of Reason (1580) 46 He looked not out of his house all that daie. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. i. 127 The Fish is presently sent to the Market in one of their Boats, the rest looking out again for more. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §296 It was not till the 12th instant that we were able to look out to sea further than to supply the seamen on board the buss with provisions.
h. trans. To find by looking; to choose out by looking.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xxi. 29 Thou hast loked the out vanities, & prophecied lyes. c1590Marlowe Faust. viii. 7 She has sent me to look thee out; prithee, come away. 1607Shakes. Timon iii. ii. 67 Ile looke you out a good turne, Seruilius. 1611Bible Gen. xli. 33 Let Pharaoh looke out a man discreet and wise. 1658Plymouth Col. Rec. (1855) III. 141 Liberty is graunted vnto Mr. Josias Winslow,..to look out a place to suply him with twenty fiue acres of land. 1768E. Cleaveland in B. P. Smith Hist. Dartmouth Coll. (1878) 36 The Deputy Surveyor,..offered his assistance to look out the township and survey it. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 133, I am tired of looking out words to express their various merits. 1838Dickens O. Twist viii, You're a-staring at the pocket-handkerchiefs! eh, my dear!.. We've just looked 'em out, ready for the wash. c1884‘Edna Lyall’ We Two xix, She went..to the Bradshaw, and looked out the afternoon trains.
41. look over.
a. trans. To cast one's eyes over; to scrutinize; to examine (papers, or the like).
c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 11 Saynt cuthbert lyfe..Who so lykes to luk it oure, He sall' fynde it part in foure. 1706Hearne Collect. 8 Mar. (O.H.S.) I. 201 Dr. Kennett..look'd them [MSS.] all over. 1712Ibid. III. 301 Gronovius hath publish'd some extracts out of Josephus with emendations... I must look them over. 1809Malkin Gil Blas xi. ii. (Rtldg.) 396 The minister..looked me over from head to foot. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. ii. (1889) 14 Tom had time to look him well over, and see what sort of man had come to his rescue. 1892Temple Bar Apr. 467, I have a number of papers to look over.
b. colloq. = look on, 39 b.
42. look round. intr.
a. To look about in every direction.
1526Tindale Mark iii. 5 He loked rounde aboute on them angrely. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 529 Others from the dawning Hills Lookd round, and Scouts each Coast light armed scoure. 1781Cowper Expost. 27 Let the Muse look round From East to West, no sorrow can be found. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest (1820) I. 100, I looked round in search of a human dwelling. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xxix, Tito looked round with inward amusement at the various crowd. 1892Black & White 19 Mar. 367/2, I had now time and daylight enough to look round.
b. fig. To search about for.
1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 161 In great perturbation men began to look round for help.
c. (See quot. 1914.)
c1869Taylor & Dubourg in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) III. 250 I've begged and prayed to him for time—only to look round. 1914Conc. Oxf. Dict. Add., Look round, (esp.) examine the possibilities &c. with a view to deciding on a course. 1950J. Cannan Murder Included i. 8 Hugo..is out of the army and looking round; there was some talk of him starting a dairy herd. 1974‘R. Tate’ Birds of Bloodied Feather iii. 74, I looked round for a job and found a modest occupation.
43. look through.
a. trans. To penetrate with a look or glance; to search. lit. and fig.
c1450Holland Howlat 49, I sawe ane Howlat..Lukand the laike throwe. 1667Dryden Ind. Emperor iii. ii. (1668) 32 Fate sees thy Life lodg'd in a brittle Glass, And looks it through, but to it cannot pass. 1737Pope Hor. Ep. i. i. 108 Who bids thee face with steady view Proud Fortune, and look shallow Greatness thro'. 1887Edin. Rev. July 231 His eye glaring at a stranger with a gaze that seemed to look him through and through.
b. To examine or survey exhaustively.
1742–3Young Nt. Th. vi, Look nature through, 'tis revolution all. 1781Cowper Conversat. 749 Look human nature through.
†c. intr. To become visible or obvious. Obs.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 120 Th' incessant care..Hath wrought the Mure, that should confine it in, So thinne, that Life lookes through, and will breake out.
d. to look right (or straight) through (a person): to pretend not to see (someone), to ignore (someone) deliberately.
1959B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green i. 9 Like me? He never even sees me. He looks straight through me. 1963P. Willmott Evolution of Community ix. 98 It's awful when they look right through you, because they think you're not as good as them. 1973G. Mitchell Murder of Busy Lizzie ii. 26 Clothilde's straight-laced mamma boycotted Eliza..and Clothilde..looked straight through the poor woman.
†44. look under. intr. To look down. Obs.
1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. ii. 340 Thus pondering, he looked under with his eyes.
45. look up.
a. See simple senses and up adv.; to raise the eyes, turn the face upward.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 173 Ðanne..þo wreches..lokeð up and dun and al abuten. c1220Bestiary 187 Ne deme ðe noȝt wurdi ðat tu dure loken up to ðe heueneward. a1300Cursor M. 21393 Constantin..lok up..He sagh þar cristis cros ful bright. c1386Chaucer Sir Thopas Prol. 8 Approche neer, and looke vp murily. 1535Coverdale Ps. xl. 12 My synnes haue taken soch holde vpon me, that I am not able to loke vp. 1608Shakes. Per. i. ii. 55 How dares [sic] the plants looke vp to heauen, From whence they haue their nourishment? 1637Milton Lycidas 125 The hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed. a1800Cowper Jackdaw 10 Look up—your brains begin to swim. 1855Tennyson Brook 204 And he look'd up. There stood a maiden near. 1892Longm. Mag. Jan. 247 She looked up from her writing.
†b. Of a plant: To show itself above the ground.
1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 97 If it be suffer'd to look up in a Garden, it will wind about all Herbs and Plants that have Stalks.
†c. To cheer up, take courage, be cheerful.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 113 My Soueraigne Lord, cheare vp your selfe, looke vp. 1602― Ham. iii. iii. 50 Then Ile looke vp, My fault is past. 1611― Wint. T. v. i. 215.
d. to look up to († occas. at): (a) to direct the look or face up towards; to raise the eyes towards, in adoration, supplication, etc.; (b) fig. to have a feeling of respect or veneration for.
a1626Bacon New Atl. (1627) 7 Let vs looke vp to God, and euery man reforme his owne wayes. 1719Freethinker No. 157 ⁋6 These Three Ladies..look up to him, as their Patron and Defender. 1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) III. 100 The rest seem to look up at you, as of an higher Order of Intelligence. 1794C. Pigott Female Jockey Club 141 Are these the patriots, to whom England was to look up for Salvation? 1843Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. i. 210 Sweden looks up to British agriculture as the model for imitation. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 447 The Whig members still looked up to him as their leader. 1881Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. x. 178 In Pitt England had at last found the man to whom it could look up.
e. slang. To improve. Chiefly Comm.: cf. look down, 33 d.
1806R. Cochrane Let. 6 Jan. in J. Steele Papers (1924) I. 461 One cause why it has been so low at this market was the scarsity of salt; our river is now full enough for Boats to run, I think the Article will look up. 1822Examiner 725/1 Foreign Securities are generally looking up. 1835Tait's Mag. II. 211 The Radicals are, to use a mercantile phrase, looking up. 1884G. Allen Philistia I. xi. 303 Trade is looking up. 1888Sarah Tytler Blackhall Ghosts III. xxix. 85, I don't believe that agriculture will look up in this country for many a day.
f. Naut. (See quot.)
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To look, the bearing or direction, as, she looks up, is approaching her course.
g. To search for (something) in a dictionary or work of reference, among papers, or the like; to consult (books) in order to gain information.
1692Wood Life 24 July, They decided to look up it [Athenae Oxon.]—to see what I said of the Presbyterians. 1865Mill Exam. Hamilton 458, I have only looked up the authorities nearest at hand. 1876C. M. Yonge Womankind vi. 44 She had better look the definitions up at the beginning of the books of Euclid. 1890Fenn Double Knot I. iii. 113, I have been looking up the Glens. Not a bad family, but a younger branch.
h. To call on, go to see (a person). colloq.
1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xlix, George will look us up..at half-after four. 1885Illustr. Lond. News 21 Feb. 208/3 So do look me up..and you will be most welcome. 1892Harper's Mag. LXXXIV. 246/2 You'd better look him up at his hotel.
i. To search for.
1468Paston Lett. II. 329 The obligacion of the Bisshop of Norwychys oblygacion, I never sye it that I remembre; wherfor I wolde and prey my modre to loke it up. 1473Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 37, I..praye yow to loke uppe my Temple of Glasse, and send it me by the berer herof. 1636Earl of Manchester in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 276 It will be best for every one to..look up the exemptions they have. 1669Plymouth Col. Rec. (1856) V. 27 The Court haue ordered that..the said Winge be required to looke vp the said Indian, and bringe him..before some one of the majestrates. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iv. (1889) 30 He was..a sort of boating nurse, who looked-up and trained the young oars. 1894Wolseley Marlborough I. 278 Hearing of some rebels in the neighbourhood of Taunton, he sent a small party of Oxford's regiment to look them up.
j. To direct vigilance to.
1855A. Marsh Heiress of Haughton II. 52 Phillips is new to his place, remember;—you must look him up, if he is careless. 1862Mrs. H. Wood Channings II. 235 A pretty time o' day this is to deliver the letters!.. You letter-men want looking up.
k. to look (a person) up and down: to scrutinize his appearance from head to foot.
1892Standard 3 Oct. 4/7 They prefer to look his Viceroy up and down and all round before giving him a character. 1893Strand Mag. VI. 125/2 People looked her up and down.
†46. look upon. = look on, 39 a. Obs.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 27 Whiles the Foe doth..looke vpon, as if the Tragedie were plaid in iest, by counterfetting Actors. 1606― Tr. & Cr. v. vi. 10 Aia. Ile fight with him alone, stand Diomed. Dio. He is my prize, I will not looke vpon. Troy. Come both you coging Greekes, haue at you both. 1611― Wint. T. v. iii. 100.
47. Comb. (used attrib. or as ns.): look-ahead, an action of judging what can happen or is likely to happen in the (immediate) future; look-and-say, a method of teaching reading by identifying each word as a whole (as opposed to treating a word as a series of separate letters needing to be spelt); look-around, -round [cf. to look (a)round, senses 30, 42], an inspection, scrutiny, search; look-like-a-goose n., one who has a stupid look; look-through Papermaking (see quots.).
1963I. Flores Logic Computer Arithmetic iv. 78 Another solution is to examine the inputs to a number of stages and, somehow, simultaneously predict the carry outputs for this group of stages. This is called the carry lookahead. Ibid. v. 83 Let us examine an adder which performs the carry function with a lookahead on several levels. 1967A. Battersby Network Analysis (ed. 2) xii. 210 The effect of a ‘look ahead’ decision rule is shown. 1973Sci. Amer. June 93/3 Since the number of legal moves available to a player at each turn averages about 30, a full look-ahead to a depth of four would require examination of about 304, or 810,000 moves.
1909B. Dumville Sci. of Speech xii. 167 The books on school method usually mention three methods of teaching to read—the Alphabetic, the Look-and-Say, and the Phonic. 1964M. Critchley Developmental Dyslexia iv. 16 Many have blamed the analytic, look-and-say, ‘flash’ or global systems of teaching—whereby the child learns to identify each word as a whole. 1973Guardian 7 Mar. 5/2 The use of highly speculative Gestalt psychology as the theoretical basis for ‘look and say’ methods.
1947Ann. Reg. 1946 157 Field-Marshal Smuts found time to fly to Berlin for what he described as a ‘private look around’ with no special..objectives. 1967M. McLuhan Medium is Massage 10 ‘The Medium is The Massage’ is a look-around to see what's happening.
1624Bp. R. Montagu Gagg 300 He hath the figure of a man as Will Summer had, though he be indeed as very a Look-like-a-goose as he was.
1914R. Frost North of Boston 65 We took one look round. 1932J. Buchan Gap in Curtain ii. 97 He hoped, while in the country, to have a look round.
1937E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 149/1 Look-through, a term applied to the appearance of paper when held to the light, thus disclosing the texture or formation. 1973C. Cohen Watermarks (William Sommerville & Son Ltd.) 8/1 Look-through, the appearance of a sheet of paper when held up to the light: may be clear or mottled.
▪ III. look
var. louk; obs. f. lock n.1 |