ˈlook-see slang.
Also looksee.
[Pidgin-like formation from look n. or v. + see v.]
1. A survey; a tour of inspection, a reconnaissance; an investigation. Also rare (quot. 1926), appearance, looks.
| 1883 Boy's Own Paper 22 Dec. 185/1, I 'spec she just come here to makee look see how de people get on. 1906 J. London Let. 25 Apr. (1966) 204 Would you care to have a look-see at it for publication in the magazine? 1908 St. George's Rev. I. 156 China..opium problem... It was my business to go out there and have what my John would call a ‘look-see’. 1924 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 356/2, I sat up, and had a look-see. The ground sheet was crawling with scorpions. 1926 M. Leinster Dew on Leaf 82, I distrust the look-see of things. 1927 Observer 9 Oct. 22 We must be grateful to the B.B.C. for letting us have a ‘looksee’, as the Chinese say. 1928 Sat. Even. Post 4 Feb. 105/3 And I can take a look-see at what they're doing in aviation over there. 1939 J. Pascoe Unclimbed N.Z. v. 67 A hurried reconnaissance, or in Colonial argot, a ‘look-see’, disclosed that. 1942 C. Barrett On Wallaby iii. 52 We had a looksee at Merre Gudda, which, the blacks say, is a haunted cave. 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 41 A look-see, a reconnaissance. Thus, ‘Let's get some facts first; go down to the flights and take a look-see.’ 1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) xv. 123 I'll wander up and have a look-see. 1967 B. Copper No Flowers for General xi. 142 I'll have a looksee at the front. 1968 A. Diment Bang Bang Birds ii. 13, I took a long looksee through my..binoculars. |
2. (See quot.) rare.
| 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 147 A look see, a telescope, a periscope. |
3. attrib.
| 1929 Amer. Speech V. 149 Several pidgin English terms are now accepted American slang:..‘chow-chow’ for food, and ‘look-see man’ for tourist or sightseer. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 101 Look-see window, a window in the rear of the sleeper that assists the driver in backing up by increasing his visibility. 1973 Times 17 May 27/2 As a result of his ‘look-see’ trip Lewis..came back home with around {pstlg}100,000 worth of export orders. 1973 Sci. Amer. Oct. 114/1 ‘Look-see’ diagrams that offer visual proof of complex algebraic formulas. |