look-see

See also: looksee

English

Alternative forms

• looksee, looksie, looksy

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese Pidgin English look-see.

Noun

look-see (plural look-sees)

1. (informal) A brief examination, a peek or glance.
   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 43:

     ‘It’s the first native island I ever called at where the whole tribe didn’t come down to the beach for a look-see.

   • 1999, Dana Stabenow, Hunter's Moon, →ISBN, page 33:

     I'm going up in the Cub to take a look-see.

   • 2012, Jackie Collins, Hollywood Kids:

     You'll do what I do. Meet and greet. Then read through the sides with the actors, unless they're on a look-see.

   I’ve had a look-see at your work, and I think you’ve done a pretty good job of things.

   I'll just take a look-see at the problem and come right back, then we can go to lunch.

   He gave me a quick look-see at what they're working on.

2. A person who serves as lookout or scout.
   • 2013, Jack Campbell, The Lost Fleet:

     Once we have them localized, I can send in some look-sees to get a better idea of how many and whether there's actually a nuke in there with them.

3. An audition attended by an actor or model so that they can be visually appraised.

   Synonym: go-see

   • 2005, Lynne Warren, Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, page 489:

     The basic use of the comp is to allow an art or casting director to select the model type needed for a particular assignment. This is generally followed by a casting call or a "look-see" for a more detailed evaluation of the models.

   • 2007, Melissa de la Cruz, Crazy Hot, page 270:

     J. is dating P. at NYU and modeling on the side. They're planning to meet us in Paris for spring break so J. can go to some look-sees (and eat some escargot, obv.).

Verb

look-see (third-person singular simple present look-sees, present participle look-seeing, simple past look-saw, past participle look-seen)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make a quick inspection, especially as a lookout or scout.
   • 2015, Zhang Kaiyuan, Donald MacInnis, Eyewitnesses to Massacre:

     I told Kola and he went down in the p.m. to look-see.

   • 2015, John Boom -, The Watch of the Golden Dragon Turtle:

     When I look-saw my brother's sunstone I knew it was mighty powerful magic.

   • 2015, Bill Cariad, It's Only Words:

     Well I've known good and bad times, and laughed till I cried And I've been asked the questions and sometimes I lied I'm what some would call teak, and some would call weak You can look-see but maybe I'm not what you seek.

See also

• once-over
• spot check

Further reading

• “look-see”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• lookees

Chinese Pidgin English

Verb

look-see

1. see, look at

Derived terms

• look-see-pidgin

Descendants

• → English: look-see

References

• Gow, W. S. P. (1924) Gow’s Guide to Shanghai, 1924: A Complete, Concise and Accurate Handbook of the City and District, Especially Compiled for the Use of Tourists and Commercial Visitors to the Far East, Shanghai, page 106: “Look see:^[sic] look; behold; to investigate.”