LOOK OUT

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

To protect someone's interests

Example:

A man's gotta look out for his family

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "look out" is one way to...):

protect (shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be vigilant, be on the lookout or be careful

Example:

Watch out for pickpockets!

Synonyms:

look out; watch; watch out

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "look out"):

beware; mind (be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to)

keep one's eyes open; keep one's eyes peeled; keep one's eyes skinned (pay attention; be watchful)

look after (keep under careful scrutiny)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

lookout (the act of looking out)

lookout (a structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings)

lookout (an elevated post affording a wide view)

lookout (a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event)

Credits

Context examples:

So far I had not dared to look out, but now I gently parted the division of the curtains in front of me and peeped through.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"In about a month I hope to be a bridegroom," continued Mr. Rochester; "and in the interim, I shall myself look out for employment and an asylum for you."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When I look out on such a night as this, I feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world; and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of Nature were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by contemplating such a scene.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Where did you get that quiz of a hat? It makes you look like an old witch. Here is Morland and I come to stay a few days with you, so you must look out for a couple of good beds somewhere near.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Look out this window, Watson.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"There he is," thought Jo, "Poor boy! All alone and sick this dismal day. It's a shame! I'll toss up a snowball and make him look out, and then say a kind word to him."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was a sight which I shall never forget until my dying day—so weird, so impossible, that I do not know how I am to make you realize it, or how in a few years I shall bring myself to believe in it if I live to sit once more on a lounge in the Savage Club and look out on the drab solidity of the Embankment.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Riding along on the train, near to the line between California and Oregon, he chanced to look out of the window and saw his unsociable guest sliding along the wagon road, brown and wolfish, tired yet tireless, dust-covered and soiled with two hundred miles of travel.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

After a little while, not hearing any sound, I came out and went up the stone stair to where I could look out towards the South.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As I look out on the night, my tears fall fast, and my undisciplined heart is chastened heavily—heavily.