It's a bit like when you "...can't see the wood for the trees...": You are looking so hard for something that you miss what it is you are looking for. A couple of days ago I was looking for my reading glasses. I had been sitting at my desk but I was convinced I had put them down in another room. I had a quick look around the room, then went round the house hunting for them. (btw I have a lot of 'stuff' in my house). Finally, armed with another (slightly broken) pair, I returned to my desk, sat down, then realised that my 'lost' glasses were in fact, sitting right in front of me, next to my computer. Why had I not seen them straight away? I 'couldn't see for looking'...🤨

Hello Sasha. This sentence does not make much sense. Is the person looking for something? Perhaps they would say "I can't seem to find it" or "I can't see what I'm looking for" or "I can't find what I'm looking for" If they are trying to get a clearer vision on something perhaps they would then say "I can't see what I am looking at" It depends on the context. I hope this has helped a little bit.

I watched the video to get the context. It’s an idiom (not the most common one) I can't see for looking, means that you have been looking too long or too hard and somehow your brain sort of makes “something hidden in plain sight” invisible to you. Suggestion: don’t bother learning the weird idioms only few people use. There are so many of them one can’t ever know them all.

So it doesn’t read as proper English, but what I can make of it, it sounds like I can’t see what I’m looking at or I can’t see what you want me to see.

fyi - British English uses 'wood' differently than we do. We use it in the plural 'woods'. There are bears and coyotes in the woods. The expression 'I can't see for looking' is one I know but would never use. You do hear: "I can't see the forest for the trees." (it sounds wrong to use either 'wood' or 'woods' here)