phrasal verb / idiom · informal

look high and low

UK/lʊk haɪ ənd ləʊ/US/lʊk haɪ ənd loʊ/LOOK·HIGH·and·LOW

speakingtask1

search everywhere; look everywhere for something that is hard to find

Examples

I've looked high and low for my passport but I can't find it.

They looked high and low for a venue that was affordable.

When preparing for the presentation she looked high and low for good statistics.

Band 8 sentence

We looked high and low for a reliable source of data before finalising the report.

Collocations

  • look high and low for + noun
  • have looked high and low

Word family

look verblook high and low idiom / phrasal verb

Common mistakes

I looked up and down my room for the key.I looked high and low in my room for the key.

I looked high and low the document.I looked high and low for the document.

Say it for a higher band

5look all over6search everywhere7+look high and low

Synonyms

search everywhere

look all over

Easily confused

look all over

I looked all over the house but couldn't find it.

look up and down

He looked her up and down before speaking to her.

Related words

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In look …

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