look up
[verb]
Synonyms:
- research, find, hunt for, search for, seek out, track down
- improve, get better, perk up, pick up, progress, shape up (informal)
- visit, call on, drop in on (informal), look in on
- look up to: respect, admire, defer to, esteem, honour, revere

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English Thesaurus: visit, go to, go sightseeing, come around/by/over, drop in/by, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

look up phrasal verb (see also look)

1. if a situation is looking up, it is improving Synonym : improve, get better:
Now the summer’s here things are looking up!

2. look something ↔ up if you look up information in a book, on a computer etc, you try to find it there:
Look the word up in your dictionary.
I’ll just look up the train times.

3. look somebody ↔ up to visit someone you know, especially when you are in the place where they live for a different reason:
Don’t forget to look me up when you come to Atlanta.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

visit to go and spend time in a place, for interest or pleasure:
You must visit Kyoto.
They visited all the usual places.
go to to visit a place. Go to is very commonly used in everyday English instead of visit:
Have you ever been to England?
They went to the Eiffel Tower and the Flea Market.
go sightseeing to visit places of interest in a country:
We went sightseeing in the old part of the city.
come around/by/over (also come round British English) to visit someone informally in their home, especially when you live near them:
A few friends came round last night.
drop in/by (also call in/by British English) to visit someone in their home, especially on your way to another place:
Kate said she’d drop by later to give you the forms.
look somebody up to visit someone who you do not see very often, when you are spending time in the area where they live:
Look me up if you’re ever in Newark.
pay somebody a visit (=visit someone)
Perhaps she'll come up to town then and pay me a visit.
make/pay a visit
The king made an official visit to Poland last year.
have/receive a visit from somebody
I've just had a visit from Lou Stacey.
a brief/short visit
Miss Russell was only able to pay a brief visit.
a flying visit British English (=a very short visit)
Timpson was due to pay a flying visit to London.
a surprise visit (=one that the person being visited does not know is going to happen)
Naomi paid a surprise visit to an old school friend.
an unannounced visit (=one that someone makes without first telling the person that they are going to visit)
The social worker made an unannounced visit.
an official/state visit
The president made an official visit to France this week.
a return visit (=when you visit a place again, or when someone you visited visits you)
George was already planning a return visit.
be worth a visit
Las Palmas, the lively capital, is well worth a visit.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

look something up
look (something) up
to check a fact or get information about something.
If you don't know the meaning of the word, look it up in your dictionary.

The research involved looking up how my opponent voted.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

look up
look (someone) up
to visit someone.
Look me up the next time you're in Los Angeles.

I hope you'll look up my niece while you're in Pittsburgh.

look (something) up
to check a fact or get information about something.
If you don't know the meaning of the word, look it up in your dictionary.

The research involved looking up how my opponent voted.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

look up
1. • look (someone) up
seek and find someone
When I was in New York City I looked up my friend from university.

2. • look up (something)
to search for something in a dictionary or other book
I will look up my friend's name in the telephone book.

I looked up the word in the dictionary.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

look up something
• look up (something)
to search for something in a dictionary or other book
I will look up my friend's name in the telephone book.

I looked up the word in the dictionary.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

look up
v.
1. informal To improve in future chances; promise more success.
The first year was tough, but business looked up after that.
2. To search for; hunt for information about; find.
It is a good habit to look up new words in a dictionary.
3. To seek and find.
While he was in Chicago, Henry looked up a friend of college days.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲