Like

Pronunciation

• enPR: lÄ«k, IPA: /laɪk/
• Rhymes: -aɪk

From Middle English liken, from Old English līcian ("to please, be sufficient"), from Proto-Germanic *līkōną, *līkāną ("to please"), from Proto-Indo-European *līg- ("image, likeness, similarity"). Cognate with Dutch lijken ("to seem"), German gleichen ("to resemble"), Icelandic líka ("to like"), Norwegian like ("to like").

Full definition of like

Verb

1. (transitive, archaic) To please.
• 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV:And yf hit lyke yow I wille speke with hem by cause I am a knyghte of kynge Arthurs ...
• 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
• John Locke (1632-1705)He may either go or stay, as he best likes.
• 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, :“I can tell you more than that, if you like,” said the Gryphon. “Do you know why it’s called a whiting?”
• 1907, Robert Chambers, The Younger Set Chapter 8, At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
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, The Celebrity Chapter 1, 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).
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)You like well, and bear your years very well.
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.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)Like me to the peasant boys of France.
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 .

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.

Synonyms

• (find attractive) fancy British

Antonyms

• dislike, hate, mislike

Derived terms

• dislike
• likable
• like like
• would like

Noun

1. (usually plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).Tell me your likes and dislikes.
2. (internet) The act of showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.

Synonyms

• favorite US, favourite UK, preference

Antonyms

• dislike, pet hate, pet peeve

Derived terms

• like-for-like

From Middle English, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr. Cognate with alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly.

Adjective

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, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 1, 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
• SouthBut it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.
• ClarendonMany were not easy to be governed, nor like to conform themselves to strict rules.

Related terms

• alike

Derived terms

• -like

Adverb

1. (informal) For example, such as: to introduce an example or list of examples.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, 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, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 10, 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.
2. There are lots of birds, like ducks and gulls, in this park.
3. (archaic, colloquial) Likely.
• 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing,DON PEDRO. May be she doth but counterfeit.CLAUDIO. Faith, like enough. Indeed, quite likely.
4. (obsolete) In a like or similar manner.
• Bible, Psalms ciii. 13Like 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

• for example
• (formal) such as

Noun

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.
• unknown date, Winston Churchill on T.E. LawrenceWe shall never see his like again.
2. There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.It was something the likes of which I had never seen before.

Synonyms

• ilk

Antonyms

• antithesis, opposite

Conjunction

1. as if; as thoughIt looks like you've finished the project.It seemed like you didn't care.

Derived terms

• feel like, look like, seem like, sound like

Preposition

1. Somewhat similar to, reminiscent of.
   These hamburgers taste like leather.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, 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, The China Governess Chapter 19, 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.
• 2013-06-07, David Simpson, Fantasy of navigation, 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

• unlike

Particle

1. (colloquial, obsolete, current in Scots) A delayed filler.He was so angry, like.
2. (colloquial) A mild intensifier.She was, like, sooooo happy.
3. (colloquial) indicating approximation or uncertaintyThere 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 OutYou'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 speakers inflection in a way said would not.

Interjection

1. (Liverpool, Geordie) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.divint ye knaa, like?

Anagrams

• ilke