look lively/sharp
look lively
To hurry up and get moving. Often used as an imperative. The movie is starting in 15 minutes. Look lively! You'd better look lively if you're going to catch your bus.
look sharp
To pay attention; to be vigilant. Look sharp, or you'll get hit in the head with a soccer ball! Look sharp! There's a hole up ahead!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
look sharp
Get moving, be alert, as in The coach told the team they would have to look sharp if they wanted to win. This colloquial expression, dating from the early 1700s, originally meant "to keep a strict watch" but acquired its present sense in the early 1800s.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
look lively
used to tell someone to be quick in doing something. informalA variant of this phrase is look alive , but this is now rather dated.
look sharp
be quick. 1953 Margaret Kennedy Troy Chimneys I had…begun an idle flirtation with Maria, … then, perceiving that I should be caught if I did not look sharp, I kept out of her way.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
look ˈlively/ˈsharp
(British English, informal) do something quickly; hurry up: Come on, look lively or we won’t get to the station in time.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017