Question

Fill in the blank using a meaningful phrase:
If you don't know the meaning of 'posse', why don't you _______the word in a dictionary?

a)look at
b)look into
c)look for
d)look up

Answer 1

Hint: A phrasal verb is a combination of words from different grammatical categories, which act as a verb. They usually consist of a verb and another element like an adverb or a preposition. They usually have nonliteral meanings to them.

Complete step by step solution:

In the given options we observe that the phrasal verbs of the verb ‘look’ are given. Let us analyze them one by one, in order to find out which one fits the context of the given sentence correctly.
a)Look at means to examine or observe something closely and carefully
For example, The doctor was called to look at the wound.
We observe that the meaning of it does not fit the context of the given sentence and hence, we can say that option ‘a’ is not the correct answer.
b)Look into means to analyze or to investigate a problem in order to resolve it.
For example, The mechanic will look into the problem my car is facing.
We observe that the meaning of it does not fit the context of the given sentence and hence, we can say that option ‘b’ is not the correct answer.
c)Look for means to search for something when you do not know where to find it.
For example, The worried parents were looking for their missing child.
We observe that the meaning of it does not fit the context of the given sentence and hence, we can say that option ‘c’ is not the correct answer.
d)Look up means to search for a piece of information.
For example, You could look up the register for his address.
We observe that the meaning of it fits the context of the given sentence as in the sentence the information regarding a word is being searched for in the dictionary. Hence, we can conclude that option ‘d’ is the correct answer.

Note: One can get confused between the meanings of lookup and look for. Hence, it is necessary that we understand their meanings correctly in order to distinguish between them. Such questions require one to be familiar with the various types of phrasal verbs.