Linux Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition

Name

look — stdin  stdout  - file  -- opt  --help  --version

Synopsis

look [options] prefix [dictionary_file]

The look command prints (on standard output) words that begin with a given string prefix. The words are located in a dictionary file (default /usr/share/dict/words). For instance, look bigg prints:

bigger
biggest
Biggs

If you supply your own dictionary file—any text file with alphabetically sorted lines—look will print all lines beginning with the given prefix.

Useful options

-f	Ignore case.
-t X	Match the prefix only up to and including the termination character X. For instance, look -t i big prints all words beginning with “bi”.