Look Meaning
/lʊk/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo try to see, to pay attention to with one’s eyes.
verbTo try to see, to pay attention to with one’s eyes., As an intransitive verb, often with "at".
Sentence Examples
If you look at the lyrics, they don't really mean much.
I wouldn't have thought I would someday look up "Viagra" in Wikipedia.
Look closely and tell me what you see.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Based on the dark clouds, it may ____ as though a storm is near.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You should always ____ both ways before crossing the street to ensure that no cars are coming tonight.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *lōkōn Old English lōcian Middle English loken English look From Middle English loken, lokien, from Old English lōcian, from Proto-West Germanic *lōkōn. Further origin unknown, no certain cognates outside Germanic. Cognate with Scots luke, luik, leuk (“to look, see”), West Frisian lôkje, loaitsje (“to look”), Dutch loeken (“to look”), German Low German löken. Likely also related to German lugen (“to peek”), Alemannic German luege (“to look”), Yiddish לוגן (lugn).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no no no, he's outside, looking in."
— 1968, Ray Thomas, “Legend of a Mind”, in In Search of the Lost Chord, performed by The Moody Blues:
"Look how they massacred my boy."
— 1972, The Godfather:
"THERE is a pleaſure in owning obligations which it is a pleaſure to have received; but ſhould I publiſh any favours done me by your Lordſhip, I am afraid it would look more like vanity, than gratitude."
— c. 1701-03, Joseph Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c., Dedication:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Based on the dark clouds, it may ____ as though a storm is near.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You should always ____ both ways before crossing the street to ensure that no cars are coming tonight.