look up
SeparableThe object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: look UP. Saying “LOOK up” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /k/ of “look” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “look up” is said “loo-kup”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To search for information in a reference source.
- “Please look up when the next train arrives.”
- “I had to look the word up twice.”
Similar: check, search for
- 2
(Of a situation) to improve.
- “Things are finally looking up.”
Similar: improve