lookup

1 of 2

noun

look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp How to pronounce lookup (audio)
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

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
To see your sample ballot and polling location, visit the Kansas Secretary of State’s voter registration lookup and enter your first and last name and date of birth. Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024 After building their secret lookup scheme, the authors turned to the real-world goal of a private internet search, which is more complicated than pulling bits of information from a database, Wichs said. Madison Goldberg, WIRED, 21 Jan. 2024 Overall fiber in a food is easy to find on the nutrition label of a food or with a quick lookup on the USDA’s FoodData Central database. Jessica Migala, Women's Health, 24 July 2023 The results are then compiled in a lookup table that the compiler uses to build the circuit. IEEE Spectrum, 2 Dec. 2023 The sample was supplemented with additional phone number lookups. Brianne Pfannenstiel, USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2023 For public schools in Chicago, scroll down to the next lookup. Emily Hoerner, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2023 The state of Michigan runs public databases, also called lookups, that allow anyone to check whether the license of an individual or business is active and can include whether they've been disciplined by state regulators. Christine MacDonald, Detroit Free Press, 4 Aug. 2023 The Education Department also released a 2024-25 Pell Grant lookup table. Nerdwallet, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2023
Verb
The controller’s office also released a heat-map tool that would enable users to look up the costs and pollution associated with helicopters flying over their neighborhoods. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024 But things are looking up this year for the 1% of the 1%. Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 Not once during the press conference did Dickinson look up toward the media. Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 28 Feb. 2024 Voluminous Panorama Mascara The latest mascara from L'Oreal Paris is accurately named, delivering panoramic volume from one end of lashes to the other, making eyes look up to 1.4x bigger, according to the brand. Celia Shatzman, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024 That didn’t stop Harlan from encouraging his daughter and telling her to look up sports broadcasting icons such as Lesley Visser. Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024 And if the health of the industry is measured in volume, things are looking up. Gregg Goldstein, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024 Today, Ringwald thinks the kind of women the public looks up to serve as positive role models. Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 15 Feb. 2024 Officers looked up to see an open window on the 17th floor of the building. Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 10 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lookup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1948, in the meaning defined above

Verb

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of lookup was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near lookup

Cite this Entry

“Lookup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lookup. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lookup

1 of 2 noun
look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp How to pronounce lookup (audio)
: 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
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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