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look over

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

You quickly read or check something to see if it's okay.

Literal meaning: To cast your eyes over the surface of something.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To read or examine something quickly in order to check it or get a general impression.

"Could you look over my essay before I hand it in?"

Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

To inspect a place or object visually, often walking around it.

"The engineer looked over the whole site before writing her report."

Grammar: separable
3 B2 idiomatic neutral

To ignore or deliberately overlook someone's faults or mistakes.

"The manager was willing to look over his tardiness because his work was excellent."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Implies a relatively quick review rather than a deep analysis. Very common in professional and academic contexts: 'Can you look this over before I send it?'

Commonly used with

document report contract notes application draft

Forms

Base
look over
I/you/we/they
3rd person
looks over
he/she/it
Past simple
looked over
yesterday
Past participle
looked over
have + pp
-ing form
looking over
continuous

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Synonyms

check over review scan go over skim inspect

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