Outlook

//ˈaʊtˌlʊk// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A place from which something can be viewed.

    "Perched on the edge of the cliff was a hidden outlook."

  2. 2
    look; appearance Hong-Kong, colloquial, no-plural

    "How ignorant you are! Admiring the outlook of a same sex person has nothing to do with gay! Some of my male friends admire Andy Lau's and Leslie Cheung's looks quite a lot, but unfortunately, they are NOT gay, not BI, they are totally STRAIGHT!"

  3. 3
    the act of looking out wordnet
  4. 4
    The view from such a place.

    "Fully air-conditioned and fluorescently lit, it is strikingly decorated and there is a magnificent outlook through the wide windows."

  5. 5
    belief about (or mental picture of) the future wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    An attitude or point of view.

    "He has a positive outlook on life."

  2. 7
    a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations wordnet
  3. 8
    Expectation for the future.

    "The outlook for temperature rises is worrying."

Verb
  1. 1
    To face or look in an outward direction. archaic, intransitive, literary

    "This old man with the ſythe, olde father Tyme they call, / And hir his daughter Trueth, which holdeth yonder Booke, / Whome he out of his rocke hath brought forth to vs all, / From whence this many yeares ſhe durſt not once out looke."

  2. 2
    To look at (someone) so long or intently that they look away; to win or prevail over (someone or something). archaic, transitive

    "[...] I drew this gallant head of war, And cull’d these fiery spirits from the world, To outlook conquest and to win renown Even in the jaws of danger and of death."

  3. 3
    To be more attractive than (someone or something). obsolete, transitive

    "1731, Mary Delany, letter dated 4 October, 1731, in George Paston (ed.), Mrs. Delany (Mary Granville): A Memoir, 1700-1788, London: Grant Richards, 1900, p. 64, Nobody’s equipage outlooked ours except my Lord Lieutenant’s, but in every respect I must say Mrs. Clayton outshines her neighbours …"

  4. 4
    To inspect throughly; to select. obsolete, transitive

    "1689, Charles Cotton, “The Angler’s Ballad” in Poems on Several Occasions, London: Thomas Bassett et al., p. 76, Away to the Brook, All your Tackle out look, Here’s a day that is worth a year’s wishing; See that all things be right, For ’tis a very spight To want tools when a man goes a fishing."

  5. 5
    To look beyond (something). obsolete, transitive

    "[...] to fit minds to so even a temper, that both should round the same circle, and never out-look the Horizon of their reciprocal Interest, is a work altogether impossible."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From out- + look.

Etymology 2

From out- + look.

Etymology 3

From out + look. Perhaps influenced by Chinese 外表 (literally “outside + surface”) and English look (“appearance”). Same etymology as Cantonese outlook.

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