ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: look out
1. : one engaged in keeping watch : scout , watchman
the lookout sang out from his perch high in the shrouds — W.P.Schramm
lookouts in their towers are watching the forests — Pomona (Calif.) Progress-Bulletin
sent lookouts … along the road to catch the first glimpse of the approaching delegates — Dorothy C. Fisher
gambling-house lookouts … pass him in without question — Joseph Mitchell
2. : an elevated place or structure affording a wide view and often used for keeping watch: as
a. : crow's nest 1
b. : one used for the detection of forest fires — called also primary lookout
c. : belvedere
3. : the action of keeping watch : a careful looking or watching (as for an object or event)
a sharp lookout must be kept for traffic — Cornelius Vanderbilt b. 1898
keeping a keen lookout for opportunities of expanding — A.P.Ryan
4. : a usually distant view : prospect
the traveller feels … disgusted with the ugliness of the lookout — English Illustrated Magazine
5. chiefly Britain : a prospective condition : a probability for the future : outlook
it would be a sad lookout for the Australian dramatist if there were no little theaters — Leslie Rees
growing thin and wizen in a solitary prison is a poor lookout — W.S.Gilbert
6. : a matter of care or concern to one individual as opposed to others
his lookout that the message gets through, not theirs — Stuart Chase
7. : a short wooden bracket or cantilever used to support an overhanging portion of a roof or a bay window or a balcony
•
- on the lookout