Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Like

Like

(līk)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Liker
(līk′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Likest
.]
[OE.
lik
,
ilik
,
gelic
, AS.
gelīc
, fr. pref.
ge-
+
līc
body, and orig. meaning, having the same body, shape, or appearance, and hence, like; akin to OS.
gilīk
, D.
gelijk
, G.
gleich
, OHG.
gilīh
, Icel.
līkr
,
glīkr
, Dan.
lig
, Sw.
lik
, Goth.
galeiks
, OS.
lik
body, D.
lijk
, G.
leiche
, Icel.
līk
, Sw.
lik
, Goth.
leik
. The English adverbial ending
-ly
is from the same adjective. Cf.
Each
,
Such
,
Which
.]
1.
Having the same, or nearly the same, appearance, qualities, or characteristics; resembling; similar to; similar; alike; – often with in and the particulars of the resemblance;
as, they are
like
each other in features, complexion, and many traits of character
.
’T is as
like
you
As cherry is to cherry.
Shakespeare
Like
master,
like
man.
Old Prov.
He giveth snow
like
wool; he scattereth the hoar-frost
like
ashes.
Ps. cxlvii. 16.
☞ To, which formerly often followed like, is now usually omitted.
2.
Equal, or nearly equal;
as, fields of
like
extent
.
More clergymen were impoverished by the late war than ever in the
like
space before.
Sprat.
3.
Having probability; affording probability; probable; likely.
[Likely is more used now.]
Shak.
But it is
like
the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.
South.
Many were not easy to be governed, nor
like
to conform themselves to strict rules.
Clarendon.
4.
Inclined toward; disposed to;
as, to feel
like
taking a walk
.
Had like
(followed by the infinitive),
had nearly; came little short of.
Had like
to have been my utter overthrow.
Sir W. Raleigh
Ramona
had like
to have said the literal truth, . . . but recollected herself in time.
Mrs. H. H. Jackson.
Like figures
(Geom.)
,
similar figures.
☞ Like is used as a suffix, converting nouns into adjectives expressing resemblance to the noun; as, manlike, like a man; childlike, like a child; godlike, like a god, etc. Such compounds are readily formed whenever convenient, and several, as crescentlike, serpentlike, hairlike, etc., are used in this book, although, in some cases, not entered in the vocabulary. Such combinations as bell-like, ball-like, etc., are hyphened.

Like

,
Noun.
1.
That which is equal or similar to another; the counterpart; an exact resemblance; a copy.
He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his
like
again.
Shakespeare
2.
A liking; a preference; inclination; – usually in
pl.
;
as, we all have
likes
and dislikes
.

Like

,
adv.
[AS.
gelīce
. See
Like
,
Adj.
]
1.
In a manner like that of; in a manner similar to;
as, do not act
like
him
.
He maketh them to stagger
like
a drunken man.
Job xii. 25.
☞ Like, as here used, is regarded by some grammarians as a preposition.
2.
In a like or similar manner.
Shak.
Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Ps. ciii. 13.
3.
Likely; probably.
“Like enough it will.”
Shak.

Like

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Liked
(līkt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Liking
.]
[OE.
liken
to please, AS.
līcian
,
gelīcian
, fr.
gelīc
. See
Like
,
Adj.
]
1.
To suit; to please; to be agreeable to.
[Obs.]
Cornwall him
liked
best, therefore he chose there.
R. of Gloucester.
I willingly confess that it
likes
me much better when I find virtue in a fair lodging than when I am bound to seek it in an ill-favored creature.
Sir P. Sidney.
2.
To be pleased with in a moderate degree; to approve; to take satisfaction in; to enjoy.
He proceeded from looking to
liking
, and from
liking
to loving.
Sir P. Sidney.
3.
To liken; to compare.
[Obs.]
Like
me to the peasant boys of France.
Shakespeare

Like

(līk)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be pleased; to choose.
He may either go or stay, as he best
likes
.
Locke.
2.
To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
[Obs.]
You
like
well, and bear your years very well.
Shakespeare
3.
To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly;
as, he
liked
to have been too late
. Cf. Had like, under
Like
,
Adj.
[Colloq.]
He probably got his death, as he
liked
to have done two years ago, by viewing the troops for the expedition from the wall of Kensington Garden.
Walpole.
To like of
,
to be pleased with.
[Obs.]
Massinger.

Webster 1828 Edition

Like

LIKE

,
Adj.
[L., Heb., Gr. See Lick and Lickerish.]
1.
Equal in quantity, quality or degree; as a territory of like extent with another; men of like excellence.
More clergymen were impoverished by the late war, than ever in the like space before.
2.
Similar; resembling; having resemblance.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are.
James 5.
Why might not other planets have been created for like uses with the earth, each for its own inhabitants?
Like is usually followed by to or unto, but it is often omitted.
What city is like unto this great city? Rev. 18.
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs. Rev. 16.
Among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Dan. 1.
3.
Probably; likely, that is, having the resemblance or appearance of an event; giving reason to expect or believe.
He is like to die of hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread. Jer. 38.
Many were not easy to be governed, not like to conform themselves to strict rules.

LIKE

,
Noun.
[elliptically, for like thing, like event, like person.]
1.
some person or thing resembling another; an equal. The like lmay never happen again.
He was a man, take him for all and all, I shall not look upon his like again.
2.
had like, in the phrase, 'he had like to be defeated,' seems to be a corruption; but perhaps like here is used for resemblance or probability, and has the character of a noun. At any rate, as a phrase, it is authorized by good usage.

Definition 2024

like

like

See also: -like, lǐkē, lìkè, and liké

English

Alternative forms

Verb

like ‎(third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)

  1. (transitive, archaic) To please.
    • 1903, A. W. Pollard (ed.), Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (1485) , volume I, Bk. IV, chapter XXVI:
      Madam, said Sir Uwaine, they are to blame, for they do against the high order of knighthood, and the oath that they made; and if it like you I will speak with them, because I am a knight of King Arthur's, and I will entreat them with fairness; and if they will not, I shall do battle with them, and in the defence of your right.
      • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter xxvij, in Le Morte Darthur, book IV:
      Madame sayd syr Vwayne / they are to blame / for they doo ageynst the hyghe ordre of knyghthode & the othe that they made / And yf hit lyke yow I wille speke with hem by cause I am a knyghte of kynge Arthurs / and I wylle entrete them with fayrenesse / And yf they wylle not I shalle doo bataille with them and in the deffense of youre ryghte
    • Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
      I willingly confess that it likes me much better when I find virtue in a fair lodging than when I am bound to seek it in an ill-favoured creature.
    • 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear:
      His countenance likes me not.
  2. To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
    I like hamburgers;  I like skiing in winter;  I like the Seattle Mariners this season‎
  3. (obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
    • 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Systems of the World (Dialogue Two)
      And therefore it is the best way, if you like of it, to examine these taken from experiments touching the Earth, and then proceed to those of the other kind.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
  4. To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
    I like to go to the dentist every six months;  She likes to keep herself physically fit;  we like to keep one around the office just in case‎
  5. (obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
  6. (archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
    He liked to have been too late.‎
    • Horace Walpole (1717-1797)
      He probably got his death, as he liked to have done two years ago, by viewing the troops for the expedition from the wall of Kensington Garden.
  7. To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
    I really like Sandra but don't know how to tell her.‎
  8. (obsolete) To liken; to compare.
  9. (Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
    I liked my friend's last status on Facebook.‎
    I can't stand Bloggs' tomato ketchup, but I liked it on Facebook so I could enter a competition.‎
Usage notes
  • In its senses of “enjoy” and “maintain as a regular habit”, like is a catenative verb; in the former, it usually takes a gerund (-ing form), while in the latter, it takes a to-infinitive. See also Appendix:English catenative verbs.
  • Like is only used to mean “want” in certain expressions, such as “if you like” and “I would like”. The conditional form, would like, is used quite freely as a polite synonym for want.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Noun

like ‎(plural likes)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).
    Tell me your likes and dislikes.
  2. (Internet) An individual vote showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English like, lyke, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr. Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like ‎(“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek ‎(“like”), Danish lig ‎(“alike”), Dutch gelijk ‎(“like, alike”), German gleich ‎(“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur ‎(“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik ‎(“like, alike”) Swedish lik ‎(“like, similar”)

Adjective

like ‎(comparative more like or liker, superlative most like or likest)

  1. Similar.
    My partner and I have like minds.‎
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 3, Landlord Edmund
      […] and this is not a sky, it is a Soul and living Face! Nothing liker the Temple of the Highest, bright with some real effulgence of the Highest, is seen in this world.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.
  2. (obsolete) likely; probable
    • South
      But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.
    • Clarendon
      Many were not easy to be governed, nor like to conform themselves to strict rules.
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

like ‎(comparative more like, superlative most like)

  1. (informal) For example, such as: to introduce an example or list of examples.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
      Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
    There are lots of birds, like ducks and gulls, in this park.‎
  2. (archaic, colloquial) Likely.
  3. (obsolete) In a like or similar manner.
    • Bible, Psalms ciii. 13
      Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Usage notes

In formal writing, such as is preferred over like.

Synonyms
Translations

Noun

like ‎(plural likes)

  1. (sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
    There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.
    It was something the likes of which I had never seen before.
  2. (golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
    to play the like
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations

Conjunction

like

  1. (colloquial) as, the way
    1966, Advertising slogan for Winston cigarettes
    Winston tastes good like a cigarette should
    1978, "Do Unto Others" by Bob Dylan
    But if you do right to me, baby
    I’ll do right to you, too
    Ya got to do unto others
    Like you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you
  2. as if; as though
    It looks like you've finished the project.
    It seemed like you didn't care.
Usage notes

Using like as a conjunction, instead of as, the way, as if, or as though, is nonstandard.

Derived terms

Preposition

like

  1. Similar to, reminiscent of.
    These hamburgers taste like leather.‎
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path […]. It twisted and turned, […] and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:
      When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
Antonyms
Translations

Particle

like

  1. (colloquial, Scotland, Geordie, Teesside, Scouse) A delayed filler.
    He was so angry, like.
  2. (colloquial) A mild intensifier.
    She was, like, sooooo happy.
    • 1972, Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts, December 1:
      [Sally Brown:] Christmas is getting all you can get while the getting is good.
      [Charlie Brown:] GIVING! The only real joy is GIVING!
      [Sally Brown, rolling her eyes:] Like, wow!
  3. (colloquial) indicating approximation or uncertainty
    There were, like, twenty of them.
    And then he, like, got all angry and left the room.
  4. (colloquial, slang) When preceded by any form of the verb to be, used to mean “to say” or “to think”; used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase.
    I was like, “Why did you do that?” and he's like, “I don't know.”
    • 2006, Lily Allen, Knock 'Em Out
      You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue,
      They're like, "Alright"
      What ya saying, "Yeah can I take your digits?"
      And you're like, "no not in a million years, you're nasty please leave me alone."
Synonyms
  • (colloquial: used to precede paraphrased quotations): be all, go
Usage notes

The use as a quotative is deliberately informal and commonly used by young people, and often combined with the use of the present tense as a narrative. Similar terms are to go and all, as in I go, “Why did you do that?” and he goes, “I don't know” and I was all, “Why did you do that?” and he was all, “I don't know.” These expressions can imply that the attributed remark which follows is representative rather than necessarily an exact quotation; however, in speech these structures do tend to require mimicking the original speaker's inflection in a way said would not.

Translations

Interjection

like

  1. (Liverpudlian, Geordie) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.
    divint ye knaa, like?
References
  • A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ISBN 1904794165

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: its · time · only · #75: like · little · now · then

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

Verb

like

  1. first-person singular present indicative of liker
  2. third-person singular present indicative of liker
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of liker
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of liker
  5. second-person singular imperative of liker

German

Verb

like

  1. First-person singular present of liken.
  2. First-person singular subjunctive I of liken.
  3. Third-person singular subjunctive I of liken.
  4. Imperative singular of liken.

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *lite. Compare Maori rite.

Verb

like

  1. (stative) like, alike, similar

Derived terms

  • hoʻolike: to make things equal, to make things similar (less common)
  • hoʻohālike: to make things equal, to make things similar (more common)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Verb

like ‎(imperative lik, present tense liker, simple past likte, past participle likt)

  1. to like

Etymology 2

Adjective

  1. singular definite of lik
  1. plural of lik

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Verb

like ‎(imperative lik or lika or like, present tense likar, simple past lika, past participle lika)

  1. to like

Etyomology 2

Adjective

  1. singular definite of lik
  1. plural of lik

Scots

Verb

like ‎(third-person singular present likes, present participle likin, past likit, past participle likit)

  1. To like.
  2. To be hesitant to do something.
    I dinna like. - I'm not certain I would like to.
  3. To love somebody or something.

Adverb

like ‎(not comparable)

  1. like

Interjection

like

  1. (South Scots) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.
    Oo jist saw it the now, like.

Spanish

Noun

like m ‎(plural likes)

  1. (Internet) like

Swedish

Adjective

like

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of lik.

Noun

like c

  1. match (someone similarly skilful)
    Han hade mött sin like
    He had met his match

Declension

Inflection of like 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative like liken likar likarna
Genitive likes likens likars likarnas

Etymology

From Middle English liken, from Old English līcian ‎(“to please; be sufficient”), from Proto-Germanic *līkijaną ‎(“to please”), from Proto-Indo-European *līg-, *leyg- ‎(“image; likeness; similarity”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian liekje ‎(“to be similar, resemble”), Dutch lijken ‎(“to seem”), German Low German lieken ‎(“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen ‎(“to resemble”), Swedish lika ‎(“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like ‎(“to like”), Icelandic líka ‎(“to like”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: , IPA(key): /laɪk/
  • (UK) enPR: lī(k), IPA(key): /laɪ(k)/
  • Rhymes: -aɪk

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