like
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(līk) 
v., liked, lik·ing, likes. v.tr.
Something that is liked; a preference: made a list of his likes and dislikes.
like2 (līk)
prep.
like3 (līk) also liked (līkt)
aux.v. Chiefly Southern U.S.
Used with a past infinitive or with to and a simple past form to indicate being just on the point of or coming near to having done something in the past: "I like to a split a gut laughin'." "It seemed as how nobody had thought about measurin' the width of the bridge's openin', and we like to didn't make it through" (Dictionary of American Regional English).
v., liked, lik·ing, likes. v.tr.
- To find pleasant or attractive; enjoy.
- To want to have: would like some coffee.
- To feel about; regard: How do you like her nerve!
- Archaic. To be pleasing to.
- To have an inclination or a preference: If you like, we can meet you there.
- Scots. To be pleased.
Something that is liked; a preference: made a list of his likes and dislikes.
[Middle English liken, from Old English līcian, to please.]
like2 (līk)
prep.
- Possessing the characteristics of; resembling closely; similar to.
- In the typical manner of: It's not like you to take offense.
- In the same way as: lived like royalty.
- Inclined or disposed to: felt like running away.
- As if the probability exists for: looks like a bad year for farmers.
- Such as; for example: saved things like old newspapers and pieces of string.
- Possessing the same or almost the same characteristics; similar: on this and like occasions.
- Alike: They are as like as two siblings.
- Having equivalent value or quality. Usually used in negative sentences: There's nothing like a good night's sleep.
- In the manner of being; as if. Used as an intensifier of action: worked like hell; ran like crazy.
- Informal. Probably; likely: Like as not she'll change her mind.
- Nearly; approximately: The price is more like 1,000 dollars.
- Nonstandard. Used to provide emphasis or a pause: Like let's get going.
- One similar to or like another. Used with the: was subject to coughs, asthma, and the like.
- Informal. An equivalent or similar person or thing; an equal or match. Often used in the plural: I've never seen the likes of this before. We'll never see his like again.
- In the same way that; as: To dance like she does requires great discipline.
- As if: It looks like we'll finish on time.
be like Informal.
- To say or utter. Used chiefly in oral narration: And he's like, "Leave me alone!"
[Middle English, from like, similar (from Old English gelīcOld Norse līkr) and from like, similarly (from Old English gelīce , from gelīc, similar).]
USAGE NOTE Writers since Chaucer's time have used like as a conjunction, but 19th-century and 20th-century critics have been so vehement in their condemnations of this usage that a writer who uses the construction in formal style risks being accused of illiteracy or worse. Prudence requires The dogs howled as (not like) we expected them to. Like is more acceptably used as a conjunction in informal style with verbs such as feel, look, seem, sound, and taste, as in It looks like we are in for a rough winter. But here too as if is to be preferred in formal writing. There can be no objection to the use of like as a conjunction when the following verb is not expressed, as in He took to politics like a duck to water. See Usage Notes at as1, together.
Our Living Language Along with be all and go, the construction combining be and like has become a common way of introducing quotations in informal conversation, especially among younger people: "So I'm like, 'Let's get out of here!'" As with go, this use of like can also announce a brief imitation of another person's behavior, often elaborated with facial expressions and gestures. It can also summarize a past attitude or reaction (instead of presenting direct speech). If a woman says "I'm like, 'Get lost buddy!'" she may or may not have used those actual words to tell the offending man off. In fact, she may not have said anything to him but instead may be summarizing her attitude at the time by stating what she might have said, had she chosen to speak. See Note at all, go1.
like3 (līk)
also liked (līkt)aux.v. Chiefly Southern U.S.
Used with a past infinitive or with to and a simple past form to indicate being just on the point of or coming near to having done something in the past: "I like to a split a gut laughin'." "It seemed as how nobody had thought about measurin' the width of the bridge's openin', and we like to didn't make it through" (Dictionary of American Regional English).
[Middle English liken, to compare, from like, similar. See like2.]
Our Living Language In certain Southern varieties of American English there are two grammatically distinct usages of the word like to mean "was on the verge of." In both, either like or liked is possible. In the first, the word is followed by a past infinitive: We liked (or like) to have drowned. The ancestor of this construction was probably the adjective like in the sense "likely, on the verge of," as in She's like to get married again. The adjective was reinterpreted by some speakers as a verb, and since like to and liked to are indistinguishable in normal speech, the past tense came to be marked on the following infinitive for clarity. From this developed a second way of expressing the same concept: the use of like to with a following finite past-tense verb form, as in I like to died when I saw that. This construction appears odd at first because it ostensibly contains an ungrammatical infinitive to died; but that is not the case at all. What has happened is that like to here has been reinterpreted as an adverb meaning almost. In fact, it is quite common to see the phrase spelled as a single word, in the pronunciation spelling liketa.
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1.
like as a conjunction.
Like is used as a preposition in the sentence Please try to write like me and as a conjunction in the sentence Please try to write like I do. In the second sentence, like is used instead of as, and this use seems still to be one of the cardinal issues by which a person's awareness of what is correct or incorrect grammar is judged. Fowler (1926) wrote that 'every illiterate person uses this construction daily; it is the established way of putting the thing among all who have not been taught to avoid it'; and Evelyn Waugh wrote of his close friend and fellow writer Henry Green in the 1940s that 'only one thing disconcerted me...The proletarian grammar—the "likes" for "ases", the "bikes" for "bicycles"'.
Nonetheless, there is plenty of good evidence for this use. The Old English (up to 1150)D gives examples from Shakespeare, Southey, William Morris, and other good writers. In more recent usage, like is often used as a conjunction in three principal ways; (1) with the verb repeated or a form of do replacing it
(They didn't talk like other people talked—Martin Amis, 1981
I'm afraid it might happen to my baby like it happened to Jefferson—New Yorker, 1987
The retsina flowed like the Arno did when it overflowed in 1966—Spectator, 1987), (2) in American English and Australian English, though less in British English, to mean 'as if' or 'as though'
I wanted him born and now it feels like I don't want him—E. Jolley, 1985 (Australia)
She acts like she can't help it—Lee Smith, American English 1987, (3) replacing as in fixed or semi-fixed expressions such as as I said: Like you say, you're a dead woman—Mary Wesley, 1983
Like I said, I haven't seen Rudi for weeks—Thomas Keneally, 1985.Clearly, like continues to assert its right to be regarded as a conjunction, and there is little doubt that this right will be recognized in time. For the present, the advice has to be: when as (or as if or as though) can be substituted for like, use these alternatives, which are absolutely safe: They didn't talk as other people talked / Now it feels as if I didn't want him.
2.
like and such as.
A difficulty can arise occasionally when like is used as a preposition in the sense 'such as', since it is not always clear whether the person or thing specified is included. In the sentence The English poets, like Shakespeare, are a key part of the curriculum, the English poets are being considered separately from Shakespeare and in a way comparable to him: that is, he shares their treatment but he is not one of them. Such as includes and defines, as it would if we recast this sentence in the form The English poets such as Keats and Shelley are a key part of the curriculum. In this case our knowledge helps to clarify the meaning, but this is not always so (as, for example in the sentence Houses like the one in the picture have reached enormous values: is the one in the picture included?). The title of Kingsley Amis's novel Take a Girl Like You (1960) could be taken to mean 'a girl, for example, you' or 'a girl resembling you'. The first meaning was intended, but to resolve the ambiguity, the book would have to be called Take a Girl such as You, which it understandably isn't.
3.
use of like as a filler.
In this use, like is added parenthetically to a statement. This is conversational only, and even then is often disapproved of as non-standard:
Hayley was pleased. 'That's him. He's, like, got her hypnotized.'—Maurice Gee, 1990.It is now a regular feature of the informal language of young people, and can occur several times in a single sentence.
4.
like in idiomatic phrases.
This category includes phrases such as like always, like anything, like fun, like mad. These again belong only in informal conversational style:
They wept like anything to see Such quantities of sand—Lewis Carroll, 1872
Skate was with him like always—M. Doane, 1988
It's like my home show really, so I've been training like mad—Evening Gazette, 2007.
| lightning, lightening, light, ligature | |
| like verb., likeable, likely |
Roget's Thesaurus:
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like1
verb
- To receive pleasure from: enjoy, relish, savor. Informal go for. Slang dig. See like/dislike.
- To find agreeable: fancy, take to. Chiefly British conceit. See like/dislike.
- To have the desire or inclination to: choose, desire, please, want, will, wish. Idioms: have a mind, see fit. See desire.
adjective
- Possessing the same or almost the same characteristics: alike, analogous, comparable, corresponding, equivalent, parallel, similar, uniform. See same/different/compare.
Idioms beginning with like:
like rolling off a log
like a fish out of water
like a house afire
like a bat out of hell
like a bump on a log
like a cat on hot bricks
like a champ
like a chicken with its head cut off
like a drowned rat
like anything
like a shot
likely as not
like nobody's business
like father, like son
like fun
like gangbusters
like it or lump it
like pigs in clover
like shooting fish in a barrel
like to
like water off a duck's back
See also and the like; avoid like the plague; come up (smelling like) roses; crazy like a fox; drink like a fish; drop like flies; Dutch uncle, talk to like a; eat like a bird; feel like; (like a) fish out of water; fit like a glove; fly on the wall, would like to be a; get on (like a house afire); go out (like a light); go over (like a lead balloon); grin like a Cheshire cat; (drop like a) hot potato; just like that; know like a book; live like a king; look like a million dollars; look like death; look like something the cat dragged in; look like the cat that ate the canary; make out like a bandit; manna from heaven, like; mind like a steel trap; need like a hole in the head; no fool like an old fool; not anything like; no time like the present; out like a light; packed in like sardines; sleep like a log; something like; spread like wildfire; stick out (like a sore thumb); swear like a trooper; take to (like a duck to water); tell it like it is; treat like dirt; turn up like a bad penny; wail like a banshee; watch like a hawk; work like a beaver; work like a charm.
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adj
Definition: similar
Antonyms: different, dissimilar, unlike
v
Definition: choose, feel inclined
Antonyms: dislike, ignore
v
Definition: enjoy, be fond of
Antonyms: despise, dislike, hate
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Origin: 1982
You may be like, "Something's wrong here. Surely like was in the American vocabulary before 1982?" Of course. Like is an old friend, going back as far as the English language itself. In the Middle Ages, centuries before America was dreamed of, like had developed most of its present versatility. Originally a verb ("I like this"), long ago it also became an adjective ("under like circumstances"), a noun ("the like of it"), a preposition ("like a winner"), and a conjunction ("like a winner is"--a usage still deplored by purists, despite its age).
As if this were not enough, however, Americans invented two new uses for like in the twentieth century. One was the hip interjection used to mark any pause in speaking, or to emphasize what follows: "I'm, like, so hungry that, like, I'm, like, going to the store, like, right now." In the 1950s, if not before, jazz musicians were employing this like, and by the 1960s it had spread to the awareness of any Teenager (1938) who wanted to appear Cool (1949).
Far more radical, however, was the innovation of like that emerged in the 1980s. It was first reported by linguist Ronald Butters in 1982: "Many speakers who use narrative go also have a narrative use of to be (usually followed by like) where what is being quoted is an unuttered thought, as in And he was like 'Let me say something.'" Perhaps this began as an accidental spin-off of the like interjection which, as it floated around in the sentence, combined with the verb be, used to introduce a speaker's thoughts. "So I'm, This is amazing!" punctuated with like became "So I'm, like, This is amazing!"
That was, like, a way cool way of saying "I'm thinking." And since thoughts often turn into spoken words, it was also a way of saying "I said," or "she said," or "he said," with feeling. It began as a teenage fad, but in the 1990s it spread across the country and across age barriers so that even middle-aged Americans were like, "What's so strange about that?" This new use of like in place of thought or said had become a familiar, and hardly even noticed, part of the American vocabulary.
Word Tutor:
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liked
IN BRIEF: adj. - Regarded with favor, or had a kindly or friendly feeling for; Wanted.
A man who is straight, friendly and useful may never be famous, but he is respected and liked by all who know him.
— Herbert N. Casson
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
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as in: to like something
sign description: The hand begins open on the chest, then as the hand pulls away, the thumb and index finger come together.
sign description: The hand begins open on the chest, then as the hand pulls away, the thumb and index finger come together.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'like'
- Conjunctions
- Prepositions
- Limitations and Conditions
- Comparisons
- Approximations and Generalizations
- Approval, Respect, and Recognition - like: (vb) approve, feel inclined toward, prefer
See crossword solutions for the clue
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"Liking" redirects here. For the psychological concept, see reciprocal liking.
For other uses, see Like (disambiguation).
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) |
In the English language, the word like has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, interjection, and quotative.
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Contents
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As a preposition used in comparisons
Like is one of the words in the English language that can introduce a simile (a stylistic device comparing two dissimilar ideas) as in, "He plays like Okocha". It can also be used in non-simile comparisons such as, "He has a toy like hers".
As a conjunction
Like is often used in place of the subordinating conjunction as, or as if. Examples:
- They look like they have been having fun.
- They look as if they have been having fun.
Many people became aware of the two options in 1954, when a famous ad campaign for Winston cigarettes introduced the slogan "Winston tastes good — like a cigarette should." The slogan was criticized for its usage by prescriptivists, the "as" construction being considered more proper. Winston countered with another ad, featuring a woman with greying hair in a bun who insists that ought to be "Winston tastes good as a cigarette should" and is shouted down by happy cigarette smokers asking "What do you want — good grammar or good taste?"
The appropriateness of its usage as a conjunction is still disputed, however. In some circles it is considered a faux pas to use like instead of as or as if, whereas in other circles as sounds stilted.
As a verb
Generally as a verb like refers to a fondness for something or someone. Example:
- I like riding my bicycle.
Like can be used to express a feeling of attraction between two people, weaker than love and distinct from it in important ways. It does not necessarily imply a romantic attraction, but, as in the following case, it does. Examples:
- Marc likes Denise.
- Denise likes Marc.
In online communities (social networking or media sharing portals, e.g. on Facebook or YouTube), dedicated visual GUI elements (icons, buttons etc.) provide for users the option to like certain persons, groups, pages, status, posts, comments, published links, videos, photos etc., thus displaying their personal attraction, acknowledgement or sympathy with the "liked" object, and this "liked" status will be constantly displayed. Some communities apply a "dislike" option (as opposed to "like"), some even make possible to withdraw one's "like". This has become especially popular on Facebook, where people may even post giant 'like' images publicly as a sign of affection. Examples:
- You like this.
- You and 17 other persons like this.
- John Doe likes your link.
The word can also be redoubled (often in a more juvenile sense) to indicate a more romantic interest, often with increased stress on the first 'like.' The functional basis for this repetition is a heavy emphasis on the root meaning of 'like,' which is 'to favor.'
- I know you like Sam, but do you like like her?
In slang and colloquial speech
The word like has developed several non-traditional uses in informal speech. These uses of like are commonly associated with Valley girls in pop culture, as made famous through the song "Valley Girl" by Frank Zappa, released in 1982, and the film of the same name, released in the following year. The stereotyped "valley girl" language is an exaggeration of the variants of California English spoken by younger generations.
However, non-traditional usage of the word has been around at least since the 1950s, introduced through beat and jazz culture. The beatnik character Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver) in the popular Dobie Gillis TV series of 1959-1963 brought the expression to prominence. A very early use of this locution can be seen in a New Yorker cartoon of 15 September 1928, in which two young ladies are discussing a man's workplace: "What's he got - an awfice?" "No, he's got like a loft."
The word finds similar use in Scooby Doo (which originated in 1969) : Shaggy: "Like, let's get out of here, Scoob!"
The Top Cat TV Cartoon series from 1961-62 often used the word in a similar way to the above Scooby Doo quote, as quoted by the jazz beatnik type characters. It's shown in the 1962 Top Cat Annual several times too, e.g. "Like, that Mr Gaff is a real grouch"
It is also used in the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange by the narrator as part of his teenage slang. "I, like, didn't say anything."
Such uses of the word like can now be found everywhere English is spoken, particularly by young, native English speakers.
A common eye dialect spelling is lyk.
As an adverb
Like can be used as an adverb meaning "nearly" or to indicate that the phrase in which it appears is to be taken metaphorically or as a hyperbole. Examples:
- I, like, died!
- They, like, hate you!
- He was, like, really really mad!
Like also has an adverbial use in the construction be + like + TO infinitive, meaning "be likely to, be ready to, be on the verge of." Examples:
- He was like to go back next time.
- He was like to go mad.
As the following attest, this construction has a long history in the English language.
- But Clarence had slumped to his knees before I had half finished, and he was like to go out of his mind with fright. (Mark Twain, 1889, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
- He saw he was like to leave such an heir. (Cotton Mather, 1853, Magnalia Christi Americana)
- He was like to lose his life in the one [battle] and his liberty in the other [capture], but there was none of his money at stake in either. (C. MacFarlane and T. Thomson, 1792, Comprehensive History of England)
- He was in some fear that if he could not bring about the King’s desires, he was like to lose his favour. (Gilbert Burnet, 1679, History of the Reformation of the Church of England)
As a quotative
Like is sometimes used as a quotative to introduce a quotation or impersonation. In this usage, like functions in conjunction with a verb, generally be (but also say, think, etc.), as in the following examples:
- He was like, "I'll be there in five minutes."
- She was like, "You need to leave the room right now!"
Like can also be used to paraphrase an implicitly unspoken idea or sentiment:
- I was like, "Who do they think they are?"
It is also sometimes used to introduce non-verbal mimetic performances, e.g., facial expressions, hand gestures, body movement, as well as sounds and noises:
- I was like [speaker rolls eyes].
- The car was like, "vroom!"
See Golato (2000) for a similar quotative in German.
As a hedge
Like can be used to indicate that the following phrase will be an approximation or exaggeration, or that the following words may not be quite right, but are close enough. This usage is associated with informal registers and non-standard dialects. Examples:
- I have, like, no money.
- The restaurant is only, like, five miles from here.
As a discourse particle or interjection
Like can also be used in much the same way as "um..." as a discourse particle. It has become a trend among North American teenagers to use the word "like" in this way, see Valspeak, discourse marker, and speech disfluency):
- I, like, don't know what to do.
It is also becoming more often used (Northern England and Hiberno-English in particular) at the end of a sentence, as an alternative to you know. Note that this construction implies a desire to remain calm and defuse tension:
- I didn't say anything, like.
- Just be cool, like.
Use of "like" as a filler is a fairly old practice in Welsh English. In Scotland, it was used at least as early as the 19th century, e.g. in R L Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped:
- What'll like be your business, mannie? (p 7)
- 'What's, like, wrong with him?' said she at last. (p 193)
See Fleischman (1998) for a similar discourse particle in French.
Bibliography
- Andersen, Gisle; (1998). The pragmatic marker like from a relevance-theoretic perspective. In A. H. Jucker & Y. Ziv (Eds.) Discourse markers: Descriptions and theory (pp. 147–70). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Andersen, Gisle; (2000). The role of the pragmatic marker like in utterance interpretation. In G. Andersen & T. Fretheim (Ed.), Pragmatic markers and propositional attitude: Pragmatics and beyond (pp. 79). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Barbieri, Federica. (2005). Quotative use in American English. A corpus-based, cross-register comparison. Journal of English Linguistics, 33, (3), 225-256.
- Barbieri, Federica. (2007). 'Older men and younger women': A corpus-based study of quotative use in American English. English World-Wide, 28, (1), 23-45.
- Blyth, Carl, Jr.; Recktenwald, Sigrid; & Wang, Jenny. (1990). I'm like, 'say what?!': A new quotative in American oral narrative. American Speech, 65, 215-227.
- Cukor-Avila, Patricia; (2002). She say, she go, she be like: Verbs of quotation over time in African American Vernacular English. American Speech, 77 (1), 3-31.
- Dailey-O'Cain, Jennifer. (2000). The sociolinguistic distribution of and attitudes toward focuser like and quotative like. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4, 60–80.
- Ferrara, Kathleen; & Bell, Barbara. (1995). Sociolinguistic variation and discourse function of constructed dialogue introducers: The case of be+like. American Speech, 70, 265-289.
- Fleischman, Suzanne. (1998). Des jumeaux du discours. La Linguistique, 34 (2), 31-47.
- Golato, Andrea; (2000). An innovative German quotative for reporting on embodied actions: Und ich so/und er so 'and I’m like/and he’s like'. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 29–54.
- Jones, Graham M. & Schieffelin, Bambi B. (2009). Enquoting Voices, Accomplishing Talk: Uses of Be+Like in Instant Messaging. Language & Communication, 29(1), 77-113.
- Jucker, Andreas H.; & Smith, Sara W. (1998). And people just you know like 'wow': Discourse markers as negotiating strategies. In A. H. Jucker & Y. Ziv (Eds.), Discourse markers: Descriptions and theory (pp. 171–201). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Miller, Jim; Weinert, Regina. (1995). The function of like in dialogue. Journal of Pragmatics, 23, 365-93.
- Romaine, Suzanne; Lange, Deborah. (1991). The use of like as a marker of reported speech and thought: A case of grammaticalization in progress. American Speech, 66, 227-279.
- Ross, John R.; & Cooper, William E. (1979). Like syntax. In W. E. Cooper & E. C. T. Walker (Eds.), Sentence processing: Psycholinguistic studies presented to Merrill Garrett (pp. 343–418). New York: Erlbaum Associates.
- Schourup, L. (1985). Common discourse particles: "Like", "well", "y'know". New York: Garland.
- Siegel, Muffy E. A. (2002). Like: The discourse particle and semantics. Journal of Semantics, 19 (1), 35-71.
- Taglimonte, Sali; & Hudson, Rachel. (1999). Be like et al. beyond America: The quotative system in British and Canadian youth. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 3 (2), 147-172.
- Tagliamonte, Sali, and Alex D'Arcy. (2004). He's like, she's like: The quotative system in Canadian youth. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8 (4), 493-514.
- Underhill, Robert; (1988). Like is like, focus. American Speech, 63, 234-246.
External links
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Look up like in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Translations:
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Like
Dansk (Danish)
1.
prep. - lignende, som, lige som
adj. - lignende, ens, lige
adv. - lignende, ens, lige
n. - noget lignende
conj. - som, lige som
idioms:
- (as) like as not højst sandsynligt
- and the like og den slags, og lignende
- like enough højst sandsynligt
- more like it det er noget af det helt rigtige
- the like(s) of which sådan nogen som
- the likes of sådan nogen som
- What is he like? hvordan er han
- What is it like? hvordan er det
2.
v. tr. - kunne lide, bryde sig om, holde af, synes om, have lyst til
v. intr. - være nær, være tæt på
n. - det man kan lide
idioms:
- as you like som du vil
- like it or not hvadenten du kan lide det eller ej
3.
aux. v. - det er det, det er lige det
Nederlands (Dutch)
zoals, alsof, op de wijze van, overeenkomstig, waarschijnlijk, typerend (voor), houden van, aardig vinden, graag hebben, lusten, lekker vinden, zinnen, in de stemming voor, gelijke, zijn/haar weerga, gelijkend, gelijkgestemd
Français (French)
1.
prep. - comme, à la façon de, semblable à, typique de, environ, semblant de
adj. - pareil, égal, semblable, du même genre
adv. - comme, semblable, proche de, plutôt, comment dire
n. - égal, de ce genre, chose pareille, gens comme ça, semblable
conj. - comme
idioms:
- and the like et les semblables, et compagnie, et choses du même genre
- as like as not probablement, vraisemblablement
- like as not probablement
- like enough probablement
- like so ainsi
- like that comme ça, choses semblables
- more like it (voilà) qui est mieux
- the likes of et les semblables, des gens comme
- the likes of which des gens dont
- What is he like? comment est-il ? (au moral)
- What is it like? comment est-ce ?
2.
v. tr. - aimer, aimer bien, aimer (bien) faire, vouloir, plaire, approuver, tenir à faire
v. intr. - se sentir enclin/disposé à, choisir, souhaiter
n. - goût, préférence, inclination
idioms:
- as you like comme vous voudrez
- I like that! alors ça, c'est la meilleure (excl)
- like it or not que cela vous plaise ou non
3.
aux. v. - (auxil. verbal) être juste sur le point de
Deutsch (German)
1.
prep. - wie
adj. - ähnlich
adv. - wie
n. - Gleicher, Vorliebe
conj. - wie
idioms:
- and the like und dergleichen
- as like as not wahrscheinlich
- like as not wahrscheinlich
- like enough wahrscheinlich
- like so so
- like that so
- more like it schon besser
- the likes of solche wie
- the likes of which ihresgleichen
- What is he like? wie ist er denn?
- What is it like? wie ist es denn?
2.
v. - mögen
n. - Gleicher, Vorliebe
idioms:
- as you like wie die magst
- I like that! so was hab' ich gern! (ugs. iro.)
- like it or not ob du es magst oder nicht
3.
aux. v. - gerade etw. tun
Ελληνική (Greek)
prep. - σαν, όπως, ως
conj. - σαν να
v. - αγαπώ, συμπαθώ, μου αρέσει, αρέσκομαι (να), επιθυμώ, θέλω, προτιμώ
n. - ίδιο πράγμα, (πληθ.) προτιμήσεις, γούστα
adj. - (παρ)όμοιος, ίδιος, ίσος, παρόμοιος
adv. - πιθανώς
idioms:
- (as) like as not πιθανότατα
- and the like και τα παρόμοια
- as you like όπως σας αρέσει
- like enough πιθανώς
- like it or not είτε σ' αρέσει είτε δε σ' αρέσει
- more like it έτσι μπράβο!, τώρα μάλιστα!
- the like(s) of which οι παρόμοιοί του
- the likes of οι παρόμοιοι του
- What is he like? Πώς είναι;
- What is it like? Πώς είναι;
Italiano (Italian)
come, come se, volere, amare, piacere a qualcuno, piacere, uguale, simile
idioms:
- (as) like as not probabilmente
- and the like e simili
- as you like come ti pare
- like anything/crazy/mad alla follia
- like enough abbastanza simile
- like it or not volente o nolente
- more like it meglio
- something like qualcosa del tipo di
- the like(s) of which i quali/il quale
- the likes of i tipi come
- what is someone/something like? a cosa/chi assomiglia?
Português (Portuguese)
conj. - como
v. - gostar, querer, agradar, convir
n. - igual (m) (f), semelhante (m) (f)
adj. - igual
adv. - tal como
idioms:
- (as) like as not como se não fosse
- and the like e o semelhante
- as you like como preferir
- like anything/crazy/mad e coisas semelhantes
- like enough gostar o bastante
- like it or not queira ou não queira
- more like it mais apropriado, melhor
- something like alguma coisa parecida
- the like(s) of which a semelhança da qual
- the likes of qualquer pessoa ou coisa parecida
- what is someone/something like? como é alguém/alguma coisa ?
Русский (Russian)
нравиться, предпочитать, хотеть, чье-л. подобие, похожий, равный, вероятно, как что-л., как кто-л., так, как, словно
idioms:
- (as) like as not вероятно, не исключено
- and the like и тому подобное
- as you like как хотите
- like anything/crazy/mad изо всех сил, сломя голову
- like enough вполне возможно
- like it or not хочется вам этого или нет
- more like it лучше, чем предполагалось
- something like около
- the like(s) of which такие, как...
- the likes of чьи-л. вкусы
- what is someone/something like? что он собой представляет
Español (Spanish)
1.
prep. - como, del mismo modo que, como si, similar a
adj. - semejante, igual, parecido, afín, similar, análogo
adv. - como, del mismo modo que, como si, hecho, a manera de, probablemente, aproximadamente
n. - igual, similar, persona o cosa igual, parecida o semejante
conj. - como, del mismo modo que, como si, hecho, a manera de, igual que
idioms:
- and the like y cosas por el estilo
- as like as not probablemente
- like as not probablemente
- like enough probablemente
- like so así, de este modo
- like that como este, de este modo, así
- more like it esto está mejor
- the likes of personas como
- the likes of which nunca se vio algo igual, incomparable
- What is he like? ¿qué tal es?, ¿cómo es?
- What is it like? ¿qué tal es?, ¿cómo es?
2.
v. tr. - tener simpatía a, apreciar, tener cariño a, querer, amar, agradar, preferir, desear
v. intr. - gustarle a una persona, desear
n. - gustos, simpatía
idioms:
- as you like como quieras, como gustes, como digas
- I like that! esto me gusta
- like it or not nos guste o no
3.
aux. v. - estar justo en el punto de
Svenska (Swedish)
prep. - som, såsom, liksom, som t.ex., lik(t), typiskt för
conj. - som, såsom, som om
v. - tycka om, gilla, vilja, ha lust, vilja ha
n. - något liknande
adj. - (pred.) lik, (attr. litt.) liknande, samma, (åld. o. dial.) sannolik, trolig, nära
adv. - (åld.) på samma sätt, likadant, liksom, så att säga
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 喜欢, 希望, 想要, 想, 愿意, 适合于, 爱好
idioms:
- (as) like as not 很可能
- and the like 等等
- as you like 随便你
- like enough 满像
- like it or not 不管喜欢还是不喜欢
- more like it 那样好得多了, 这才像话了
- the like(s) of which 像...样的
- the likes of 像...样的
- What is he like? 他怎么样?
- What is it like? 那是怎么样?
2. 像, 如, 与相称的, 和...一样, 像要, 相像的, 类似的, 有相同性质的, 可能, 多半, 一样地, 同样的人或物, 如同, 好像
3. 喜欢, 想, 愿意
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
aux. v. - 喜歡, 想, 願意
2.
v. tr. - 喜歡, 希望, 想要, 想, 願意, 適合於
v. intr. - 喜歡, 希望, 願意
n. - 愛好
idioms:
- (as) like as not 很可能
- and the like 等等
- as you like 隨便你
- like enough 滿像
- like it or not 不管喜歡還是不喜歡
- more like it 那樣好得多了, 這才像話了
- the like(s) of which 像...樣的
- the likes of 像...樣的
- What is he like? 他怎麼樣?
- What is it like? 那是怎麼樣?
3.
prep. - 像, 如, 與相稱的, 和...一樣, 像要
adj. - 相像的, 類似的, 有相同性質的, 可能
adv. - 可能, 多半, 一樣地
n. - 同樣的人或物
conj. - 如同, 好像
한국어 (Korean)
1.
prep. - ~와 같은 방식으로, 마찬가지로, 닮아, 답게
adj. - 같은 , 동등한, 유사성을 가진, ~일 것 같은
adv. - 거의 , 대충 , 대략
n. - 닮은 사람, 대응하는 것, 같은 부류의 사람
conj. - ~과 같이, ~처럼
idioms:
- like enough 아마 ~이다
- the like(s) of which ~에 대응하는 것[사람]
- the likes of 필적하는 것[사람]
- What is he like%? 그는 어떠니%?
- What is it like%? 그것은 어떻게 생겼니%?
2.
v. tr. - 좋아하다, 하고 싶다, 마음에 들다, 알맞다
v. intr. - 좋아하다, 바라다
n. - 기호, 좋아하는 것
idioms:
- as you like 너가 좋을 대로
- like it or not 좋든 싫든
3.
aux. v. - ~할 것 같다
日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 好む, …したい, 体に合う, 望む
n. - 似たもの, 好み
adj. - 同様な, 似ている, 類似の
prep. - 似た, …同様に, 例えば…のような, …らしい
conj. - …のように, まるで…のように
idioms:
- (as) like as not おそらく
- and the like その他同種類のもの, など, …と…, すると
- as you like お好きなように
- like anything/crazy/mad 猛烈に
- Like hell! 猛烈に
- like it or not 好むと好まざるとにかかわらず
- the likes of …のような者
- what is someone/something like? ～はどんな人/物か
العربيه (Arabic)
(حرف جر) ك, مثل, من عادته, من خصائصه المميزة (حرف عطف) مثلما, وكأنه (فعل) يلائم, يرضي, يميل إلى, يود, يرغب في, يوافق, يشاء, يحب (الاسم) ما يحبه المرء, المثيل, النظير (صفه) مماثل, مشابه, ميال إلى, مرجح, مشرف على, كأنه مشرف على (ظرف) على الأرجح, إلى حد ما, تقريبا
עברית (Hebrew)
prep. - כמו, כגון, למשל, כפי ש-
adj. - שווה, דומים, דומה, דמוי, שקול כנגד
adv. - כמו- (סופית), אופייני ל-
n. - אדם דומה, דבר דומה
conj. - כמו, כאילו
v. tr. - חיבב, אהב
v. intr. - רצה
n. - חיבב, אהב, רצה, (ברבים) הדברים שאדם אוהב או מבכר
aux. v. - כפי הנראה
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Houghton Mifflin Word Origins
America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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