verb
Etymology: Middle English looken up, from looken to look + up
intransitive verb
1. : to raise the eyes : turn the face upward
looked up from his book
2. : to cheer up : take courage
cheer up yourself, look up — Shakespeare
3. : to improve in prospects or condition
lived on the wife's income until business looked up again — George Santayana
chances to control the Senate are looking up — T.R.Ybarra
transitive verb
1. : to search for
required to look up the said Indian and bring him before some one of the magistrates — Plymouth Colonial Records
look up the book and send it to me
2.
a. : to consult (as a reference work) in order to find out information about something
if you wish to do some further reading on this … subject, look up my book — W.J.Reilly
b. : to search for in a reference work
look up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary
look this number up in the phone book
c. : to find out information about (as by consulting a reference work)
seized a timetable and looked up the trains — Gilbert Parker
3. : to seek out ; especially : to discover the whereabouts of and make a call on : visit briefly
if I'd known you were in the regiment … I'd have looked you up — James Jones
I looked up a man in the Bureau of Internal Revenue — W.H.Upson