Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a glimpse, a glance.

1854		in McCauley With Perry 117: Went ashore to ‘make lookysee’ as John Chinaman says.
1883		Boy’s Own Paper 22 Dec. 185/1: I ’spec she just come here to makee look see how de people get on.
1903		J. Conrad Typhoon 140: His brusque ‘Come along, John; make look see’ set the Chinaman in motion at his heels.
1912		J. London Smoke Bellew (1926) 28: He was merely on a vacation, and intended to peep over the top of the pass for a ‘look see’ and then to return.
1927		D. Hammett ‘The Big Knockover’ Story Omnibus (1966) 278: It was worth a look-see.
c.1930		(ref. to 1898) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 265: The macks would follow a mark and try and pull him back to a window for a looksee or feelee.
1932		D.W. Lovelace King Kong 43: ‘It’s the first native island I ever called at where the whole tribe didn’t come down to the beach for a look-see’.
1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 100: Better go and have a look-see.
1941		Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 7 June 7/2: Cleo Haynes in town for a short look-see.
1942		Whizzbang Comics 24: From the top we can have a look-see.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 100: We hopped a rattler to New Hampshire and did a little look-see.
1959		D. Niland Big Smoke 57: The look-see, the mucking about with the gadgets, and the prescription.
1961		S. Price Just for Record 56: Take a quick looksy at those.
1963		G. Lambert Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 200: A famous lady columnist from New York is out for a look-see.
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 17: I took myself for a look-see.
1985		J. Sherwood Botanist at Bay 53: I’ll phone one or two cobbers of mine, get them to come and have a look-see.
1999		L. Gould Shagadelically Speaking vi: Give this book a looksee.
2000		T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 95: Fucking let me through for a looksie!
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 5: People are looking over, having a little look-see what’s going on and that.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 264: Maybe you should take a look-see around that apartment of yours and make sure there aren’t any electronic devices you didn’t put there yourself.

2. (US) a doctor’s licence to practise.

1929		Sat. Eve. Post 12 Oct. 76: The [quack’s] medical license is a ‘look-see,’ from the frequent demands made upon him by the authorities to produce it [HDAS].
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.

3. an assessment, a check.

2022

J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 31: The panel would take another look-see [...] and the official notice of action would come in a few anxious days.