Wiktionary

look at

English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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look at (third-person singular simple present looks at, present participle looking at, simple past and past participle looked at)

  1. (transitive) To observe or watch.
    • 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
      The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green.
    • 2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:
      Oh my good gracious me, look at that. Whoa! Quick!
      What is it?
      I can't explain it. You're just going to have to come over here and look out this window for a while.
      Whatever it is, we're not interested.
      Well. I have to say you're missing out.
  2. (transitive) To study visually.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.
  3. (transitive) To consider.
    I looked at the possibility of buying a new car, but my current one still runs great and it's paid off.
    The rest of the topic we’ll look at next week.
    • 2021 November 17, Anthony Lambert, “How do we grow the leisure market?”, in RAIL, number 944, page 37:
      This first article looked at the present situation and asks if lessons can be learned from the past, when the railways were the prime mover in the development of tourism and leisure travel.
  4. (transitive) To face; to be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.
    He is looking at jail time.
    • 2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      Lion hunts are highly choreographed, rarefied affairs; you’re looking at $70,000 before you even load your rifle. Then there are the game fees for the bait you’ll need − a zebra, warthog and a kudu, say − and for the lion itself. All in, you’re looking at a six-figure outlay with no guarantee that you’ll come home with a lion skin for a rug. (Taxidermy not included.)

Translations

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See also

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Anagrams

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