# like

Pronunciation: say "LYK" /laɪ̯k/

## Preposition

1. Similar to, resembling, or reminiscent of.
   - Simple: Similar to someone or something, in looks or in ways.
   - _The house is like a museum inside._
   - _People like that never say thank you._
3. Such as, introducing an example of the kind meant.
   - Simple: Such as, used to give an example of something.
   - _Fruits like apples and pears keep well._
   - _She plays team sports like soccer and basketball every weekend._
6. In the manner of, or the way someone or something does it.
   - Simple: In the same way as someone or something.
   - _Stop behaving like a child._
   - _The engine purred like a cat._
7. Used after look or seem to point to what seems to be coming.
   - Simple: Used after 'look' or 'seem' to say what will probably happen.
   - _It looks like a long night for the rescue teams._
   - _It looks like snow before morning._
9. Used in the question what is someone or something like, to ask for a description or an opinion.
   - Simple: Used in a question asking someone to describe a person or thing.
   - _What was the hotel like?_
   - _So what's your new boss like, then?_
18. Approximately or roughly, used after 'something'.
   - Simple: About or roughly, usually used after 'something'.
   - _The repairs will cost something like two thousand._
   - _We walked something like ten miles._
19. Typical of or in character for someone.
   - Simple: Typical of someone, what you would expect from them.
   - _That's just like you, blaming the weather._
   - _It's so like him to send flowers._

## Verb

2. To enjoy, take pleasure in or be in favor of something, including doing something regularly.
   - Simple: To enjoy something or think it is good, or to enjoy doing something often.
   - _Do you like the new design?_
   - _We liked the house the moment we saw it._
4. To want or wish, used with would and in a few other phrases.
   - Simple: To want something, usually in would like or if you like.
   - _I'd like to see the manager, please._
   - _You can sit anywhere you like, since the seats aren't assigned._
12. To find someone attractive, enjoy their company or have mild romantic feelings for them.
   - Simple: To have warm or romantic feelings for someone.
   - _Everyone could tell she liked him._
   - _If you like her that much, you should just ask her out to dinner._
13. On social media, to mark a post with approval by clicking a button, whether or not one actually approves of it.
   - Simple: To press the button that shows you approve of a post online.
   - _Thousands of people liked the video within an hour._
   - _You can like a comment without replying to it._
20. Of a computer or system, to accept an input, chiefly in the negative. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To accept something, used about a machine or computer and mostly with 'not'.
   - _The form won't like an address that long._
   - _The server bounced my email with an error saying it didn't like the recipient's address._
21. Of a thing, to be prone or tend to do something, as if by its own will. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To tend to do something, said of a thing as if it had wishes.
   - _My car likes to stall at traffic lights._
   - _Old printers like to jam when you're in a hurry._
25. To be likely, especially in the past followed by to have, meaning came near to. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: To be likely, or in the past, to come close to doing something.
   - _The roof liked to have come off in the gale._
   - _She like to died when she saw the bill._

## Conjunction

5. Introducing a supposed comparison, in the sense 'as if', or an example, in the sense 'such as'. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used to mean 'as if', or to give an example of something you could do.
   - _It felt like the whole town had turned out._
   - _Let's do something fun, like go to the beach._
8. As, or in the way that. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used to mean 'as' or 'in the way that'.
   - _She still sings like she did at twenty._
   - _Stir it like the recipe says._

## Adjective

10. Similar, or of the same kind.
   - Simple: Almost the same, or of the same type.
   - _Like causes produce like effects._
   - _The two sisters have like tastes in music, books and food._

## Particle

11. Used before an approximate quotation, a paraphrase, or a reaction. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used before words that report what someone said or felt.
   - _My dad tasted the soup and was like, who added all this salt?_
   - _She saw the bill and was like, no way._
15. Used informally in the middle of a sentence as a filler, to show that what follows is approximate or uncertain, or to draw attention to the next word or turn in a story. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A filler word in casual speech, used when guessing a number or before the key part, as in 'it was, like, huge'.
   - _He's, like, six feet tall, maybe more._
   - _The meeting lasted, like, three hours._
22. A filler added after a statement to soften it or round it off. *(dialectal, Geordie, Ireland, Scotland, Teesside)*
   - Simple: A word added at the end of a sentence to make it softer.
   - _It's not far, like, just over the bridge._
   - _We were only having a laugh, like._
24. Likely or probably, only in the set phrases like enough and like as not.
   - Simple: Likely, probably, in like enough and like as not.
   - _Like as not the bridge is out after that rain._
   - _He'll be late, like enough._

## Noun

14. On the Internet, a single vote of approval or enjoyment registered on a post.
   - Simple: A click that shows you approve of something posted online.
   - _She checks her phone every few minutes to see how many likes the photo has._
   - _A single like from the right account can change a career._
16. Someone or something similar to the one named; a counterpart or kind.
   - Simple: A person or thing that is similar to another one.
   - _Nobody had seen the likes of it before._
   - _Like attracts like, she explained._
17. A thing one prefers; a favorite, chiefly in the plural.
   - Simple: Something you like, usually in likes and dislikes.
   - _The form asks for your likes and dislikes._
   - _His likes were simple: strong coffee, long walks, and a good mystery novel._

## Adjective

23. Likely or inclined to do or be something; used with to. *(archaic, Scotland, Southern US)*
   - Simple: In old or regional speech, likely to do or be something.
   - _It was like to be a hard winter._
   - _"Frost tonight is like to kill the tomatoes," the old farmer said._

## Adverb

26. In a similar manner, chiefly followed by as. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: In the same way, usually followed by 'as'.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In golf, the stroke that makes one's number of strokes equal to the opponent's: to play the like.
- (verb) Of a thing, to be pleasing to someone, as in it likes me well.
- (verb) To take enjoyment in something, usually followed by of, by, or with.
- (verb) To come close to doing or suffering something, or to only just escape it, as in I liked to have died.
- (verb) To look or appear to be in a certain state.
- (verb) To point out how one thing resembles another.
- (adverb) Probably, as in the old phrase 'like enough'.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 4, 12–14, 17, 20–21** — Old English līcian meant "to please" as well as "to like", and it became Middle English liken. Through Proto-Germanic it reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root *leyg- for an image or likeness. Dutch lijken ("to seem"), German gleichen ("to resemble") and Norwegian like ("to like") are related. The noun was formed from this verb.
**Meanings 1, 3, 5–11, 15–16, 18–19, 22–24, 26** — The adjective comes from Middle English "lik, lich, like," a shortening of Old English "ġelīċ," influenced by Old Norse "líkr"; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz ("like, similar, same"). It is related to "alike" and cognate with German "gleich" ("equal, like") and Icelandic "líkur" ("alike, similar"). The adverb, conjunction, and preposition all developed from this same family through Old English "ġelīċe" and Old Norse "líka."
**Meaning 25** — This form comes from "like" used as an adverb and as an adjective.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/like (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).