Alice looked on with great interest as the King took an enormous memorandum-book out of his pocket, and began writing.
But when they set the bier down on the threshold, they looked at one another, and at me, and whispered.
But when I mentioned the subject to Adam he looked uneasy and turned the conversation.
But she had not felt as if she looked cheerful when she gazed at the tree.
«I do want him to think I look well, and tell them so at home,» said Amy to herself, as she put on Flo’s old white silk ball dress, and covered it with a cloud of fresh illusion, out of which her white shoulders and golden head emerged with a most artistic effect.
It was a grand spectacle, but not so grand as to keep his eyes, for half a minute together, from stealing a look at the man upon the bed.
The bread and meat were acceptable, and the beer was warming and tingling, and I was soon in spirits to look about me.
The soldiers were silent, and looked at Alice, as the question was evidently meant for her.
They brought jays here from all over the United States to look down that hole, every summer for three years.
Huck, I never see anything look any more naturaler than what It does.»
He could look at a shop-girl and tell you to an hour how long it had been since she had eaten anything more nourishing than marshmallows and tea.
For one moment the coast guardsman hesitated; then he obeyed her look. He gave the boat a push which sent it grinding down the pebbles into the sea.
What was all this though—even all this—to the extraordinary dissipation that ensued, when Kit, walking into an oyster-shop as bold as if he lived there, and not so much as looking at the counter or the man behind it, led his party into a box—a private box, fitted up with red curtains, white table-cloth, and cruet- stand complete—and ordered a fierce gentleman with whiskers, who acted as waiter and called him, him Christopher Nubbles, ‘sir,’ to bring three dozen of his largest-sized oysters, and to look sharp about it!
The hollowness and thinness of his face would have caused them to look large, under his yet dark eyebrows and his confused white hair, though they had been really otherwise; but, they were naturally large, and looked unnaturally so.
If you would know the age of the earth, look upon the sea in a storm.
What does ‘look’ mean?
The word ‘look’ can mean many different things. As a verb, the meaning is to glance at a particular thing or to seem/appear.
For example:
- Look at my new shoes! They are ruined. (glance)
- It looks as though my date isn’t going to show. (seem/appear)
Look is a regular verb. The past tense and past participle is looked.
idiomatic phrasal verbs
Did you know phrasal verbs are sometimes used in idioms? See if you can spot any. If you don’t know any phrasal verbs with ‘look’, click here to learn them.
- don’t look a gift horse in the mouth – don’t be ungrateful, graciously accept gifts
e.g. I know you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but I really can’t accept £500. - look a picture of health – appear very fit/healthy
e.g. Granny didn’t look a picture of health, I think she’s getting worse. - look a state – look horrible/awful
e.g. Andrew’s wife looks a state, she used to be model material. - look after/out for number one – put your own needs before the needs of others
e.g. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I’m looking out for number one from now on. - look like a million dollars – look amazing
e.g. My girlfriend looked like a million dollars, so I proposed, and she accepted. - look over one’s shoulder – be afraid that someone might do something bad to you
e.g. You’d better keep looking over your shoulder, one of these days I’m going to get you. - look someone square in the eye – look at someone directly
e.g. He looked me square in the eye and told me he was sleeping with my girlfriend. - look the part – dressed appropriately for the occasion
e.g. My baby looks the part in his Army uniform. He looks so grown up. - look what the cat dragged in – imply someone who has just arrived looks bad or you don’t like them
e.g. Look what the cat dragged in. Do you remember her? It’s that witch who lives on Southmead.
Let’s see these idioms with pictures and meaning using real-life scenarios.
Psst…
Hey, did you know the verb ‘look’ has many phrasal verbs. Since you like idioms and phrases, you obviously want to improve your fluency and speak like a native.
Am I right?
I thought you might like to learn the phrasal verbs with ‘look’ too. They are very common in informal English and great to know/be able to understand if you happen to be speaking to a native. We use them all the time, like literally ALL the time.
be looking up
things are looking up
Informal way to say that conditions are improving.
Things are looking up at our university as the governor promised a 5% salary raise.
The board chairman is glad to report that things are looking up for the company after several years of declining sales.
Prospects for building that new library in the downtown area are looking up.
butter wouldn’t melt in one’s mouth
look as if butter wouldn’t melt in one’s mouth
You act very polite and friendly but do not really care, you are very nice to people but are not sincere.
Волк в овечьей шкуре.
The new secretary was rude to the other workers, but when she talked to the boss, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
She looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but she has broken so many hearts.
Она выглядит такой невинной, но разбила так много сердец.
dirty look
A look that shows dislike.
Miss Parker sent Joe to the principal’s office for giving her a dirty look.
feel small
look small
To have the impression that one is insignificant, foolish, or humiliated.
«I feel small next to Hemingway,» the young student of creative writing said.
if looks could kill
Если бы взгляды могли убивать; убийственно злобный взгляд; если бы взглядом можно было убить.
If looks could kill, then the look he gave me would have killed me at once.
Если бы взглядом можно было убить, то взгляд, которым он на меня посмотрел, убил бы меня тотчас же.
like looking for a needle in a haystack
look for a needle in a haystack
Something that will be very hard to find.
«I lost my class ring somewhere in the front yard,» said June.
Jim answered, «Too bad. That will be like finding a needle in a haystack.»
look a gift horse in the mouth
don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
To complain if a gift is not perfect. A proverb. Usually used with a negative.
John gave Joe a baseball but Joe complained that the ball was old. His father told him not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
look after
see after
To watch over; attend to.
John’s mother told him to look after his younger brother.
When he went to Europe, Mr. Jenkins left his son to see after the business.
Grandma will look after the baby while we go to the lecture.
Here is a list of idioms and expressions built around the word ‘look’. Each idiom is followed by its meaning and example sentences.
Look before you leap
Used for advising people to think carefully before they act
Look down your nose at
When you look down your nose at somebody, you think that you are better or more important than him or her.
- Julie has this nasty habit of looking down her nose at her neighbours.
Look bad / good
When something looks bad / good it is considered to be a good / bad thing to do.
- I think it will look bad if we don’t invite them to our party.
Look good / bad for
To seem to be going to have a good/bad result
- Things aren’t looking too good for us at the moment.
Look someone in the eye/face
To look someone in the face is to look at their face when you are talking to them to show that what you are saying is true.
- Can you look me in the eye and say that you haven’t stolen the money?
Be looking to do something
When you are looking to do something, you are planning to do something.
- We are looking to expand our business in Europe.
Look the other way
To look the other way is to deliberately ignore something bad that is happening before your eyes.
- You can’t just look the other way if you suspect that he is cheating on you.
Look someone up and down
To look someone up and down is to carefully look at them as if you are trying to make a judgment about them.
- She looked us up and down as if we were aliens.
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Here’s today’s English point – Idioms with LOOK. I love helping you learn idioms because they make your English sound more natural and less textbook-ish. For today’s lesson, let’s look at 6 Idioms that use the verb LOOK. Let’s check it out!
Here are the example sentences from this episode. To get the details of this English lesson, you need to listen to the podcast or join my Podcast Learner’s Group for the transcript, live group lessons, and more.
- The boss gave me a dirty look when I came late to work this morning.
- I’m going to leave the bar at 9 o’clock today because if I come home late again I’m sure my wife is going to give me a dirty look.
- When Jack told me that he was going to be dating one of his coworkers I told him that he was looking for trouble.
- You’re going to open up your phone and try to fix it by yourself? I think you’re looking for trouble.
- My coworker suggested that I tell the boss that his new hairpiece doesn’t look good, but I told her “don’t look at me”. I’m not going to break the news to him about that.
- Go bungee jumping? Don’t look at me!
- When I ask the boss if we were going to get a bonus this summer he didn’t say no but I think it looks bleak.
- I was hoping that my favorite team would win the game today but after the halfway point it just looked bleak.
- I found a box of floppy disks in my office and I looked high and low for the floppy disk drive but I couldn’t find it, so I guess I’ll never figure out what’s on those discs.
- I have looked high and low for my keys but I just can’t find them anywhere.
- Before the meeting the printer broke so I could only make three copies of the report. Since there are six of us we’ll have to look on with each other.
- Hey I forgot to bring my textbook today, so can I look on with you?
If you know anyone who might be interested in this English language point, why not help them out! Just share this lesson with them. Thanks for studying today!
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