Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to look around

to look around

552 1.0
Turn your head and eyes to see what is around you
  • phrasal verb
  • /lʊk əˈraʊnd/
translation icon : mirar alrededor
  • As I entered the store, I decided to look around to see if anything caught my eye.
  • look around the room
  • look around to see
  • stop and look around

I'm like, hop in and he's looking around like, huh.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I look around and I see a lot of prepared faces.

    Theater Camp (2023)

  • We wanted to create a comfortable space where students would want to linger and look around the shelves.

    Academic text (2013)

  • And I stopped and I looked around and there was nobody.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • Go inside and look around or your aim will be off.

    Stanford

  • - Listen, I gotta go back to the restaurant in the morning and look around.

    Blood Hook (1987)

  • Stop looking for your passion and instead look around right where you are.

    Andrew Huberman

  • Step into your classroom and look around as if you had never seen it before.

    Academic text (2001)

  • And she laughed as she sat down and looked around the pretty guest room.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The children file into the room, go to their assigned seats, and look around curiously.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Following her, I saw that Vivian had come into the house and was looking around searchingly.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to look at
vsto look around
∞ 1.0

Study something carefully to understand it or decide

applies instead to moving and observing the whole area around you
to take a look
vsto look around
∞ 1.3

To look at something to check it or find information

means scanning the surrounding area by turning or moving about
to examine
vsto look around
868 2.5

To look at something carefully to find facts or problems

focuses on scanning the nearby environment rather than deep analysis
to observe
vsto look around
619 2.4

To watch something carefully to learn about it

is about turning or moving to examine everything around you
to have a look
vsto look around
412 1.3

To check something carefully, for example an essay or a machine

involves moving around to see what is present nearby
to view
vsto look around
357 1.0

To look at something carefully

emphasizes scanning the whole nearby area by shifting position
to regard
vsto look around
241 3.2

To look at someone or something carefully

involves moving the head or body to check the surroundings
to scope out
vsto look around
  • Informal
18 5.4

To look carefully at a place or person to get information before you act

is more general observation of the nearby space without a plan

Antonyms

to look away
125 2.2

Turn your eyes away from a person or thing that makes you uncomfortable

How Thorough

to inspect
202 2.5
survey
97 2.8
to look around
552 1.0
to scan
127 2.7
to glance
299 1.5

Surface Forms

look around infinitive
looked around past
looked around past participle
looking around present participle
looks around third person singular

Morphology

look + around

The meaning 'to examine or observe one's surroundings' is directly and predictably derived from 'look' (to direct one's eyes) combined with 'around' (in the surrounding area). This verb + particle composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Look around comes from the simple image of using your eyes and turning your head to see what is all around you. The parts look, meaning 'to use your eyes', and around, meaning 'in every direction', help explain why it means 'to examine' or 'to observe your surroundings'.