look up
phrasal verb·4 senses·particle up
Meanings
Direct your eyes upward
Why “up”? A person or thing moves from a lower place or position to a higher one.
“He looked up at the stars.”
“She looked up at the ceiling.”
Search for information in a book or online
Neutral and common everywhere. In formal writing you can also say search for.
Why “up”? A person, thing, signal, idea, or truth becomes present, visible, active, or known.
“Leo looked up the gift shop address when he met Maya at the shopping centre cafe.”
“Maya looked up the clinic address during her lunch break.”
“Before going out, Maya looked up the club's address while Leo got ready.”
“Maya looked up the train's departure time before the weekend trip.”
Start to become better
Why “up”? More of something is higher. Quantity, intensity and speed all rise.
“Things are looking up at work.”
“After a slow month, sales are looking up.”
Admire and respect someone (look up to)
Why “up”? You see someone as higher than you. You give them respect and admiration.
“Many young players look up to her.”
“I looked up to my older brother.”
Memory hook
You raise your eyes up to a list or screen to find information.
Common mistake
Look up it in the dictionary.
Look it up in the dictionary.
A pronoun goes in the middle: look it up.
Natural collocations
The word partners “look up” most often appears with — learn the phrase, not just the verb.
Don't confuse with
Look up means move your eyes upward. Look out means watch for danger.
Look up means search for specific information. Look through means examine the contents of something quickly.
Look up can mean a situation starts to improve. Look down means direct your eyes downward.
Test yourself
“He looked up at the stars.” What does it mean?
Nearby in the meaning map
Sink In connects verbs by particle pattern, contrast pairs, and shared base verbs.
look down
A contrast learners often mix up
Direct your eyes downward
look out
A contrast learners often mix up
Be careful or watch for danger
look through
A contrast learners often mix up
Examine the contents of something quickly; Pretend not to see someone you know
back up
Same up pattern: increase
Make a digital copy of data as a safeguard; Support someone's claim, story or position; Move backward along the same path; (of traffic or water) accumulate because flow is blocked
beef up
Same up pattern: increase
Strengthen or reinforce
blow up
Same up pattern: appearance
Explode or be destroyed by an explosion; Inflate something by filling it with air; Suddenly become very angry; Enlarge a photograph or image; (of a storm or argument) develop quickly into something serious
bring up
Same up pattern: appearance
Mention or raise a topic
build up
Same up pattern: increase
Gradually increase in amount, strength or intensity; Develop or strengthen something over time; Make someone or something seem more important or impressive than they are; Encourage or strengthen someone emotionally; Create momentum towards a moment or event
Tell it apart
Side-by-side comparisons with the verbs learners most often confuse for “look up”.
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