I know what “look about” means but in this sentence, I failed to figure them out












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"she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody."



Look about means to look around to find someone, so in this sentence, I think it should be "looked about the owner" instead "looked about her" because she was trying to find the owner.
Am I right?



Thanks in advance










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    0















    "she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody."



    Look about means to look around to find someone, so in this sentence, I think it should be "looked about the owner" instead "looked about her" because she was trying to find the owner.
    Am I right?



    Thanks in advance










    share|improve this question














    bumped to the homepage by Community 10 mins ago


    This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.


















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      "she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody."



      Look about means to look around to find someone, so in this sentence, I think it should be "looked about the owner" instead "looked about her" because she was trying to find the owner.
      Am I right?



      Thanks in advance










      share|improve this question














      "she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody."



      Look about means to look around to find someone, so in this sentence, I think it should be "looked about the owner" instead "looked about her" because she was trying to find the owner.
      Am I right?



      Thanks in advance







      meaning grammar






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      asked Dec 30 '18 at 4:39









      TamTam

      211




      211





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      bumped to the homepage by Community 10 mins ago


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          'Look about [something]' means to look around that thing. You are interpreting it to mean she was looking, and the thing she was looking for, or what the looking was about, was the owner, but that is not the intended or generally accepted meaning. You should read the sentence to mean "she looked around her, expecting the owner would not be far off; [...]". I can't think of any scenarios where you can't just replace 'look about' with 'look around'.



          about
          1. on the subject of; concerning.
          2. used to express location in a particular place.



          In the example you give, the #2 definition of about is being used.






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            She looked about her means:




            she looked at what was around her




            expecting to find the owner who, she supposed, would not be too far away from her.



            look about (for someone or something):




            to try to locate someone or something. I have to look about for someone to serve as a babysitter. I don't see it here. I'll have to look about.




            (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)






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              2 Answers
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              'Look about [something]' means to look around that thing. You are interpreting it to mean she was looking, and the thing she was looking for, or what the looking was about, was the owner, but that is not the intended or generally accepted meaning. You should read the sentence to mean "she looked around her, expecting the owner would not be far off; [...]". I can't think of any scenarios where you can't just replace 'look about' with 'look around'.



              about
              1. on the subject of; concerning.
              2. used to express location in a particular place.



              In the example you give, the #2 definition of about is being used.






              share|improve this answer




























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                'Look about [something]' means to look around that thing. You are interpreting it to mean she was looking, and the thing she was looking for, or what the looking was about, was the owner, but that is not the intended or generally accepted meaning. You should read the sentence to mean "she looked around her, expecting the owner would not be far off; [...]". I can't think of any scenarios where you can't just replace 'look about' with 'look around'.



                about
                1. on the subject of; concerning.
                2. used to express location in a particular place.



                In the example you give, the #2 definition of about is being used.






                share|improve this answer


























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                  0








                  0







                  'Look about [something]' means to look around that thing. You are interpreting it to mean she was looking, and the thing she was looking for, or what the looking was about, was the owner, but that is not the intended or generally accepted meaning. You should read the sentence to mean "she looked around her, expecting the owner would not be far off; [...]". I can't think of any scenarios where you can't just replace 'look about' with 'look around'.



                  about
                  1. on the subject of; concerning.
                  2. used to express location in a particular place.



                  In the example you give, the #2 definition of about is being used.






                  share|improve this answer













                  'Look about [something]' means to look around that thing. You are interpreting it to mean she was looking, and the thing she was looking for, or what the looking was about, was the owner, but that is not the intended or generally accepted meaning. You should read the sentence to mean "she looked around her, expecting the owner would not be far off; [...]". I can't think of any scenarios where you can't just replace 'look about' with 'look around'.



                  about
                  1. on the subject of; concerning.
                  2. used to express location in a particular place.



                  In the example you give, the #2 definition of about is being used.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



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                  answered Dec 30 '18 at 6:24









                  Adam WhiteAdam White

                  1215




                  1215

























                      0














                      She looked about her means:




                      she looked at what was around her




                      expecting to find the owner who, she supposed, would not be too far away from her.



                      look about (for someone or something):




                      to try to locate someone or something. I have to look about for someone to serve as a babysitter. I don't see it here. I'll have to look about.




                      (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)






                      share|improve this answer




























                        0














                        She looked about her means:




                        she looked at what was around her




                        expecting to find the owner who, she supposed, would not be too far away from her.



                        look about (for someone or something):




                        to try to locate someone or something. I have to look about for someone to serve as a babysitter. I don't see it here. I'll have to look about.




                        (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)






                        share|improve this answer


























                          0












                          0








                          0







                          She looked about her means:




                          she looked at what was around her




                          expecting to find the owner who, she supposed, would not be too far away from her.



                          look about (for someone or something):




                          to try to locate someone or something. I have to look about for someone to serve as a babysitter. I don't see it here. I'll have to look about.




                          (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)






                          share|improve this answer













                          She looked about her means:




                          she looked at what was around her




                          expecting to find the owner who, she supposed, would not be too far away from her.



                          look about (for someone or something):




                          to try to locate someone or something. I have to look about for someone to serve as a babysitter. I don't see it here. I'll have to look about.




                          (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)







                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered Dec 30 '18 at 6:34









                          user240918user240918

                          26.3k1072152




                          26.3k1072152






























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