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

The group then used its control of routers to change DNS lookups for select websites, including, Microsoft said, domains for the company’s 365 service. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2026

Read the full report for 888 International Market by searching for the restaurant on the Kansas inspection lookup. —Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 2 Apr. 2026

Verb

Virginia Nishita took a deep breath, tried wiping her eyes dry and looked up, toward the heavens. —Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026

The passenger in the back eventually looked up from her phone, noticed Louise, and locked eyes with this bewildered-looking woman blocking the crosswalk. —Catherine Lacey, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 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