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Glite Dictionary
looking

looking

39 1.0
The act of using your eyes to check something carefully
  • noun
  • /ˈlʊkɪŋ/
: mirada
  • Brady: DON'T BE LOOKING, MAN.

And we'll finish up the year by looking at the Epicurean tradition.

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Examples

  • 76 LOOKING DOWN FROM CHOPPER 76

    Fiction book (1998)

  • p117 LOOKING BACK on it, trying to analyze how it came to be, Chee finally decided it was partly bad luck and mostly his own fault.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • And then with this, just keep opening your eyes, looking straight ahead.

  • Like honestly, while sitting here just looking up, it's hard to say.

  • DEAN HANLON, LOOKING SHARP.

    Bikini Spring Break (2012)

  • I'll disagree with everything you've said and say TRON: Legacy is a beautifully looking, but flawed film, with some heady ideas under the surface not normally found in special effects-laden blockbuster family films.

    Blog text (18)

  • The child's looking at the colorful pictures captivated the artist's attention.

  • Her looking around the room helped her find where she had left her purse.

  • The detective's close looking at the clues revealed important information about the case.

Synonyms

look
vslooking
∞ 1.0

A short action of turning the eyes to see something

is the general act of using eyes to examine something
watching
vslooking
221 1.0

Looking at something carefully for some time to notice changes

is the single or brief act of using eyes to examine
observation
vslooking
148 3.0

The act of watching something to learn about it

is the simple act of using eyes without the stronger information focus
look-over
vslooking
38 3.2

A quick check of something to find obvious problems

is the broad act of using eyes to examine, not only quick checks
view
vslooking
29 1.2

An act of looking carefully at something

is broader, covering any act of using eyes to examine things
browsing
vslooking
23 2.8

Looking through things like books or shops without a clear aim

is the general act of using eyes to examine with any purpose
gander
vslooking
  • Informal
19 7.1

A quick look at something

means the full act of using eyes to examine, not just a brief glance
seeing
vslooking
12 1.0

The ability to use your eyes to notice things

focuses on the active act of examining rather than general visual ability

Idioms

on the outside, looking in
  • Informal
7 8.1

Feeling left out and watching others take part

through the looking-glass
  • Literature
6 9.1

Entering a strange, unreal world where usual rules are reversed

Compounds

good-looking
307 1.2

Having a nice face or body that people find attractive

better-looking
72 2.3

More attractive to look at

fine-looking
21 2.0

Having an attractive appearance

looking glass
  • Archaic
13 8.7

A mirror often used to check your face and clothes

evil-looking
2 5.3

A person or thing that looks dangerous and likely to cause harm

-looking
  • Specialized
1 4.9

Having the look shown by the word before it, for example sad-looking

metal-looking
1 5.2

An object that looks like metal because of its color or shine

metallic-looking
1 4.7

Shiny in a way that makes something look like metal

looking glass tree
  • Indian
9.9

A large evergreen tree from India and Burma with leaves that are silvery underneath

looking-glass plant
  • UK
9.9

A small coastal tropical tree with silvery undersides on its leaves

How Long

gaze
174 2.1
looking
39 1.0
look
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

looking singular
lookings plural

Morphology

looking = look (transparent) = look + ing

A regular gerund/nominalization formed from the verb 'look' with '-ing', so the noun meaning is directly derived from the verb.

Etymology

The word looking comes from the simple old verb look, which meant 'to use the eye' and shows up in everyday words like lookout and outlook, so looking is the act of using your eyes to look at or examine something.