13 Common Phrasal Verbs with “Look” – Meanings and Example Sentences (Audio)

Look at

to turn your eyes on something; to stare at something

The first time she wore a dress, he looked at her for at least 15 minutes.

Everybody likes to look at beautiful things.

I like to look at oil paintings.

Look for

to find someone or something; to search for something

Please help me look for the car key!

Remember to look for the green light when you pass the streets.

Don’t look for me after work today because I have to go home early.

Look up

to search for the meaning; to research; to find information by looking in a directory, dictionary, book or list

She looks up a word in the dictionary when she doesn’t understand it.

People often look up information on Google.

Please look up a nice restaurant for tomorrow’s meeting.

Look out/to watch out (for)

to be careful or cautious; used to warn someone to be careful, especially when they are likely to have an accident

Look out! A car is coming.

Watch out for snakes when you’re in the forest.

Small children should always watch out for strangers offering candy.

Look over/to go over/to read over/to check over

to review something and make sure it has no errors

Look over your exam before you turn it in.

The teacher will go over the lessons with you tomorrow.

I will go over the details of the job with you later.

Look up to

to follow someone as your role model. If you look up to someone, especially someone older than you are, you respect and admire them.

I have always looked up to my older sister.

My younger brother looks up to me.

Teenagers nowadays always look up to their idols.

Look ahead

to think about what is likely to happen in the future; to predict

You really need to look ahead at what might happen and have a plan to deal with it.

She never looks ahead.

If you had looked ahead, the terrible mistake would never have happened.

Look down on

to think that you are better or more important than someone else

Don’t look down on him. He’s very good at technology.

Do you look down on me just because I didn’t go to college?

She looks down on everyone who isn’t as rich as she is.

Look forward to

to be excited about what is going to happen

I really look forward to hearing from you.

My little sister was looking forward to her first field trip.

He isn’t really looking forward to married life.

Look in on (someone/something)

to visit someone for a short time

I’ll look in on Helen tomorrow to see if she needs any help.

You don’t need to look in on me every day. I’m not a baby.

Can you look in on my puppy while we’re on holiday?

Look to

to expect to get help or advice from someone

They’re looking to the consultant for advice.

Helen isn’t good at math. She always looks to her elder brother for guidance.

Don’t look to John. He will never help.

Look through

to read something quickly; to pretend that you do not recognize someone

Can you look through the meeting minutes and let me know your opinion?

Sorry, I didn’t have time to read your CV carefully. I just looked through it.

He looked through me as if I were a stranger.

Look upon/on someone/something as someone/something

to consider someone/something as someone/something

They look on me as a troublemaker.

John and Cathy looked on him as their son.

I look upon this town as my second home.