to turn pages, briefly looking at them We leafed through some old photo albums.The detective leafed through some papers on the desk, looking for clues to my father's disappearance.
Turn pages, as in browsing or searching for something. For example, There she sat, leafing through the various catalogs. This expression employs leaf in the sense of "turn over the leaves of a book," a usage dating from the mid-1600s.
To go through some reading material quickly or superficially, turning from page to page, as in searching or browsing: On Sunday mornings, I leaf through the newspaper while eating breakfast.