look the other way
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Ignore deliberately.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He looks the other way, then?
Most people around here would have just looked the other way.’
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “look the other way” mean?
Ignore deliberately.
Is “look the other way” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.