Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LOO, n.

A game at cards. – Pope.

LOOB'I-LY, adv. [See Lobby.]

Like a looby; in an awkward, clumsy manner. – L'Estrange.

LOOB'Y, n. [W. llabi, a tall lank person, a looby, a lubber, a clumsy fellow; llob, a blockhead, an unwieldy lump.]

An awkward, clumsy fellow; a lubber. Who could give the looby such airs? – Swift.

LOOF, n. [See LUFF, which is the word used.]

LOOF, n.

The after part of a ship's bow, or the part where the planks begin to be incurvated, as they approach the stem. – Mar. Dict.

LOOF'ED, a. [See Aloof.]

Gone to a distance. [Not used.]

LOOK, n.

1. Cast of countenance; air of the face; aspect; as, a high look is an index of pride; a downcast look indicates modesty, bashfulness, or depression of mind. Pain, disgrace and poverty have frightful looks. – Locke.
2. The act of looking or seeing. Every look filled him with anguish.
3. View; watch. – Swinburne.

LOOK, v.

in the imperative, is used to excite attention or notice. Look ye, look you; that is, see, behold, observe, take notice.

LOOK, v.i. [Sax. locian; G. lugen; Sans. loch, lokhan. It is perhaps allied to W. lygu, to appear, to shine. See Light. The primary sense is to stretch, to extend, to shoot; hence, to direct the eye. We observe its primary sense is nearly the same as that of seek. Hence, to look for is to seek.]

1. To direct the eye toward an object, with the intention of seeing it. When the object is within sight, look is usually followed by on or at. We look on or at a picture, we look on or at the moon; we can not look on or at the unclouded sun, without pain. At, after look, is not used in our version of the Scriptures. In common usage, at or on is now used indifferently in many cases, and yet in other cases, usage has established a preference. In general, on is used in the more solemn forms of expression. Moses was afraid to look on God. The Lord look on you and judge. In these and similar phrases, the use of at would be condemned, as expressing too little solemnity. In some cases at seems to be more properly used before very distant objects; but the cases can hardly be defined. The particular direction of the eye is expressed by various modifying words; as, to look down, to look up, to look back, to look forward, to look from, to look round, to look out, to look under. When the object is not in sight, look is followed by after, or for. Hence, to look after, or look for, is equivalent to seek or search, or to expect.
2. To see; to have the sight or view of. Fate sees thy life lodged in a brittle glass, / And looks it through, but to it can not pass. – Dryden.
3. To direct the intellectual eye; to apply the mind or understanding; to consider; to examine. Look at the conduct of this man; view it in all its aspects. Let every man look into the state of his own heart. Let us look beyond the received notions of men on this subject.
4. To expect. He must look to fight another battle, before he could reach Oxford. [Little used.] – Clarendon.
5. To take care; to watch. Look that ye bind them fast. – Shak.
6. To be directed. Let thine eyes look right on. Prov. iv.
7. To seem; to appear; to have a particular appearance. The patient looks better than he did. The clouds look rainy. I am afraid it would look more like vanity than gratitude. – Addison. Observe how such a practice looks in another person. – Watts. So we say, to look stout or big; to look peevish; to look pleasant or graceful.
8. To have a particular direction or situation; to face; to front. The gate that looketh toward the north. – Ezek. viii. The east gate of the Lord's house, that looketh eastward. – Ezek. xi. To look about, to look on all sides, or in different directions. To look about one, to be on the watch; to be vigilant; to be circumspect or guarded. – Arbuthnot. To look after, to attend; to take care of; as, to look after children. #2. To expect; to be in a state of expectation. Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. Luke xxi. #3. To seek; to search. My subject does not oblige me to look after the water, or point forth the place whereto it has now retreated. – Woodward. To look for, to expect; as, to look for news by the arrival of a ship. Look now for no enchanting voice. – Milton. #2. To seek; to search; as, to look for lost money, or lost cattle. To look into, to inspect closely; to observe narrowly; to examine; as, to look into the works of nature; to look into the conduct of another; to look into one's affairs. Which things the angels desire to look into. 1 Pet. i. To look on, to regard; to esteem. Her friends would look on her the worse. – Prior. #2. To consider; to view; to conceive of; to think. I looked on Virgil as a succinct, majestic writer. – Dryden. #3. To be a mere spectator. I'll be a candle holder and look on. – Shak. To look over, to examine one by one; as, to look over a catalogue of books; to look over accounts. To overlook, has a different sense, to pass over without seeing. To look out, to be on the watch. The seaman looks out for breakers. To look to, To watch; to take care of. Look well to thy herds. Prov. xxvii. #2. To resort to with confidence or expectation of receiving something; to expect to receive from. The creditor may look to the surety for payment. Look to me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Is. xlv. To look through, to penetrate with the eye, or with the understanding; to see or understand perfectly.

LOOK, v.t.

1. To seek; to search for. Looking my love, I go from place to place. [Obs.] – Spenser.
2. To influence by looks or presence; as, to look down opposition. A spirit fit to start into an empire, And look the world to law. – Dryden. To look out, to search for and discover. Look out associates of good reputation. To look one another in the face, to meet for combat. – 2 Kings xiv. To look up a thing, is to search for it and find it; as, I do not know where the book is, I must look it up.

LOOK'ED, pp.

Searched for; sought.

LOOK'ER, n.

One who looks. A looker on, a mere spectator; one that looks on, but has no agency or interest in the affair.

LOOK'ING, ppr.

Seeking.

LOOK'ING-GLASS, n.

A glass which reflects the form of the person who looks on it; a mirror. There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass. – South.

LOOK'-OUT, n.

A careful looking or watching for any object or event. – Mar. Dict.

LOOL, n.

In metallurgy, a vessel used to receive the washings of ores of metals. – Encyc.

LOOM, n. [Sax. loma, geloma, utensils.]

1. In composition, heir-loom, in law, is a personal chattel that by special custom descends to an heir with the inheritance, being such a thing as can not be separated from the estate, without injury to it; such as jewels of the crown, charters, deeds, and the like. – Blackstone.
2. A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver works thread into cloth. Hector, when he sees Andromache overwhelmed with terror, sends her for consolation to the loom and the distaff. – Rambler.
3. [Dan. lom or loom, G. lohme.] A fowl of the size of a goose.
4. That part of an oar which is within board. – Mar. Dict.

LOOM, v.i. [Qu. Sax. leoman, to shine, from leoma, a beam of light. This does not give the exact sense of the word as now used.]

1. To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to appear larger than the real dimensions and indistinctly; as a distant object, a ship at sea, or a mountain. The ship looms large, or the land looms high. – Mar. Dict.
2. To rise and to be eminent, in a moral sense. On no occasion does he, (Paul,) loom so high and shine so gloriously, as in the context. – J. M. Mason.

LOOM'-GALE, n.

A gentle gale of wind. – Encyc.

LOOM'ING, ppr.

Appearing above the surface, or indistinctly, at a distance.

LOON, n. [Scot. loun or loon. Qn. Sax. lun, needy, or Ir. liun, sluggish.]

1. A sorry fellow; a rogue; a rascal. – Dryden. Shak.
2. A sea-fowl of the genus Colymbus. [Ice. lunde.]

LOOP, n. [Ir. lubam, to bend or fold; lub, luba, a thong, loop.]

1. A folding or doubling of a string or a noose, through which a lace or cord may be run for fastening. That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop / To hang a doubt on. – Shak.
2. In iron-works, the part of a row or block of cast iron, melted off for the forge or hammer.

LOOP'ED, a.

Full of holes. – Shak.

LOOP'HOLE, n.

1. A small aperture in the bulk-head and other parts of a merchant ship, through which small arms are fired at an enemy. – Mar. Dict.
2. A hole or aperture that gives a passage.
3. A passage for escape; means of escape. – Dryden.

LOOP'HOL-ED, a.

Full of holes or openings for escape. – Hudibras.