lookup

1 of 2

noun

look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp 

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

Synonyms of lookup

Verb

• pursue
• seek
• search (for or out)

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

After a user inputs the plate number, the lookup tool will inform them whether it has been searched. — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026

The dataset itself was small, only hundreds of thousands of records, but the sheer volume of lookups put the entire pipeline under strain. — Jon Stojan, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2026

Verb

This is especially the case for young adults who look up to celebrities as role models. — Miranda Roberts, The Conversation, 17 Aug. 2026

Another tool the department uses is called Blue Voice, a ChatGPT-esque AI assistant that helps officers look up Florida statutes, municipal and county codes, and parking rules. — Laurie Mermet, Sun Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1948, in the meaning defined above

Verb

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

Kids Definition

lookup

1 of 2 noun

look·​up ˈlu̇k-ˌəp 

: 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