to look out
- phrasal verb
- /lʊk aʊt/
- Though a corporal had fewer men in his charge than a colonel, he needed to look out for them, too.
That's like the Western mind inside of me that's looking out for you.
- That's like the Western mind inside of me that's looking out for you.
- That says that those same people will cross the political lines to the people they feel are looking out for their best interests.
- But for now, the wonder of the world outside of the plan of salvation and God looking out over his children for this big plan of obedience.
- We're going to do it in a way where we can look out after our clients and their health as well as the communities that we serve.
- Trust Donald Trump and JD fans to look out for your family.
- No, you're everybody to some degree looks out for their own interests, right?
- So they're of like looking out for each other.
- OK, this next red flag is controversial, but I'm just looking out for you.
- Don't get the wrong idea, but we will look out for you.
- And that's what I mean by no one can really look out for the things that I need to look out for in the way that I know.
Examples
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The world needs us to care for each other and look out for each other.
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In a crisis situation, people often think and look out for themselves and their family before anyone else.
Blog text (2) -
And what he needs is someone to look out for him, Right?
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So, I took it upon myself to look out for him.
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Now I need you to look out for me.
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Now it's my job to look out for you.
Fiction book (1999) -
I'm just trying to look out for you.
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The New Covenant looks out for the interests of the ordinary people.
Academic text (1998) -
We all swore we'd look out for one another...
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It is important to have someone who will look out for you when you face challenges.
Synonyms
Take care of someone or something to keep them safe and working
To watch and protect a person or place from harm
To watch someone or something carefully to make sure nothing bad happens
Watch carefully to notice danger or help someone
To look after someone or something to keep them safe
To stay alert and watch for danger or trouble
Look at a person or thing very carefully for a while to notice problems
To stay and watch to protect people or a place
Antonyms
How Protective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to protect or watch over someone' is plausibly derived from combining 'look' (direct attention/watch) with 'out' (outward vigilance), so a learner who knows the parts can often infer a watching/protective meaning. However, the extension to 'ensure someone gets what they need' or the habitual sense 'take care of' is a pragmatic/idiomatic extension of the literal components and depends on phrasal-verb usage, so it is not fully predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase look out for someone comes from the simple idea of watching over a friend so nothing bad happens; you look out and keep an eye on them. That's why today look out can mean 'to protect someone' or 'to make sure they are safe'.