Look up
2 meanings · select one to explore
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Meaning 1 of 3
Definition
To improve or get better
Example sentence
Things are finally looking up.
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
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Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
look up after a difficult period
things are looking up
business is looking up
the economy is looking up
sales are looking up
things are starting to look up
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
Business is looking up this year. ✅ (Correct)
Business is looking this year up.❌ (Incorrect)
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition
To search for information in a dictionary, online, etc.
Example sentence
Let me look up the address.
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
Common pattern: look up + information/word/person
- look up a word
- look up information
- look up a definition
- look up a phone number
- look up an address
- look up someone's name
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
I looked the word up in the dictionary. ✅ (Correct)
I looked up the word in the dictionary. ✅ (Correct)