lookup
English meaning: Lookup
Definition
An attempt to retrieve data.
Example
“My database lookup failed because I misspelled the word.”
Another example: “A reverse lookup matched the phone number to a name.”
Usage — When, Where & How
Technical and neutral; chiefly a computing term for retrieving stored data ('a database lookup', 'lookup table'). Often written 'look-up' or 'look up' (verb). Common in programming and data contexts.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
A 20th-century noun formed from the phrasal verb 'look up', from Old English 'locian' (to look).
Related Words
Common Collocations
- lookup table
- database lookup
- quick lookup
- lookup function
- reverse lookup
Word Forms
look up (v); lookup (n); lookups (pl)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
CC-licensed · free to useVideo
Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B