look through

phrasal verb

looked through; looking through; looks through

: to read or briefly examine some of the pages of (a book, magazine, etc.)

She was looking through a magazine as she waited in the doctor's office.

: to look at the different parts of (a collection or group of things)

I looked through all his letters.

: to place one's eyes so as to see through (something)

look through a telescope

: to pretend not to see or recognize (someone) in a rude or unfriendly way

We used to be best friends but when she passed me on the street yesterday she looked (right/straight) through me without even saying hello!

Examples of look through in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Quartz’s Bruce Gil looked through the poll’s crosstabs and picked out which media brands are beloved by which ends of the political divide. —

Melvin Backman, Quartz, 10 Sep. 2024 In 2012 Lorenz Roth, then a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute, was looking through images the Hubble Space Telescope had made of Europa in the ultraviolet. —

science.org, 19 Sep. 2024 Trump cannot sell too much, too soon—in theory As the lockup expiry date approaches, Fortune looked through dozens of SEC disclosures to examine the condition of TMTG. —

Bypaolo Confino, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2024 Find a spot along the parks’ beaches on the Chesapeake Bay or Potomac River and sift through sand at the shoreline or wade out a little bit and look through the sediment there. —

Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for look through

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