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Business phrasal verbsphrasal verb · /lʊk aʊt fɔːr/

look out for

In simple English

Stay watchful and vigilant for something that might occur. In tech contexts, this often means monitoring for bugs, security issues, or potential risks in code or systems.

Someone heard a colleague say "look out for" in a meeting and wants to understand what to watch for.

At a glanceCEFR B1–B2
Commonness
Versatility
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

Look out for any edge cases when you test this.
I'll look out for that error in the logs.
Can you look out for memory leaks in this PR?
Just look out for any breaking changes.
We should look out for performance issues after deployment.

Real examples

Standup

"I'll look out for any issues with the new API integration today."

Slack message

"Hey team, look out for a new release coming this afternoon."

GitHub PR

"Look out for potential null pointer exceptions in this function."

Jira ticket

"Look out for edge cases where the user input is empty."

Retrospective

"We should look out for scope creep in future sprints."

Sprint planning

"Let's look out for dependencies that might block us."

Pair programming

"Can you look out for any typos while I code this?"

Don't say this

Look out the bugs in the code.
Look out for the bugs in the code.The phrasal verb requires 'for' after 'look out' when specifying what to watch.
I will look out for it yesterday.
I looked out for it yesterday.Use past tense 'looked' when talking about past actions.
Please look out for to the errors.
Please look out for the errors.Don't add extra prepositions. 'For' is enough.

Other forms

base form

look out for

"Look out for any issues."

third person singular

looks out for

"She looks out for bugs in every PR."

past tense

looked out for

"I looked out for that error all day."

present participle

looking out for

"I'm looking out for any problems."

past participle

looked out for

"We've looked out for this issue before."

Often used with

look out for bugsWatch carefully for software defects
look out for issuesStay alert for problems
look out for edge casesWatch for unusual input scenarios
look out for each otherHelp and support teammates
look out for red flagsNotice warning signs

Similar words

watch forVery similar meaning, slightly more formal
keep an eye onMore informal, implies ongoing monitoring
be alert toMore formal, used in documentation
monitorMore technical and formal
watch out forNearly identical meaning, interchangeable

Opposites

ignoreoverlookmissdisregardneglect

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural sentence

1. Which sounds most natural in a code review?

Complete the sentence

2. Please look out ___ any breaking changes in this release.

Find the error

3. I will look out for to any security vulnerabilities.

Rewrite naturally

4. Be watchful for bugs. → Look out...

More words

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "look out for" in a standup this week?

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

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