lookup

1 of 2

noun

look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp 

variants or look-up

: an act, process, or instance of looking something up (as in a reference work or listing)

dictionary lookups

a price look-up

look up

2 of 2

verb

looked up; looking up; looks up

intransitive verb

1

: to cheer up

look up—things are not all bad

2

: to improve in prospects or conditions

business is looking up

transitive verb

1

: to search for in or as if in a reference work

look up an address

2

: to seek out especially for a brief visit

look me up when you're here

Synonyms

Verb

• cast about (for)
• cast around (for)
• chase (down)
• forage (for)
• hunt
• pursue
• quest
• search (for or out)
• seek
• shop (for)

Examples of lookup in a Sentence

Verb

be sure to look me up if you're ever in town

by the next morning, the skies had begun to clear and we were looking up

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This includes battle card development, customer profiles, role-playing for call preparation and knowledge base lookups to answer specific customer questions or objections during a call. —Expert Panel®, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024

The servers providing domain name lookups provide translations for virtually any IP address—even when they’re known to be malicious. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 3 May 2024

Verb

Poets and cub scouts, romantics and scientists, people young and old around the world have looked up and been dazzled by the flecks of light speckled across the night’s inky canvas. —Abbey Stone, SELF, 31 Oct. 2024

Things are looking up for U.S. consumers and future growth. —Jason Schenker, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1948, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

lookup

1 of 2 noun

look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp 

: the process or an instance of looking something up

especially : the process of matching by computer the words of a text with material stored in memory

look up

2 of 2 verb

: to seek for or out

look up a word in the dictionary

look up a friend