look for trouble

verb

to deliberately act in a way that's likely to lead to a fight.

“When they showed up, you could tell they were looking for trouble”

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Meanings

verblook for trouble (third-person singular simple present looks for trouble, present participle looking for trouble, simple past and past participle looked for trouble)

present singular third person looks for trouble · participle present looking for trouble · participle past looked for trouble · past looked for trouble

  1. informalto deliberately act in a way that's likely to lead to a fight.

    When they showed up, you could tell they were looking for trouble

  2. informalto do things that are likely to cause problems.

    If you cut corners on maintenance now, you're just looking for trouble later on.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ask for itask for troublehassle
Cite this entry
APA

look for trouble. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/look%20for%20trouble

MLA

“look for trouble.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/look%20for%20trouble. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “look for trouble,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/look%20for%20trouble.

Source: look for trouble on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.