Link Centre Dictionary

like

UK/laɪ̯k/ US/læ̙ːk/ very common informal
verb (5) adjective (4)

verb

1.

prefer or wish to do something

  • “Do you care to try this dish?”
  • “Would you like to come along to the movies?”
Synonyms
2.

find enjoyable or agreeable

  • “I like jogging”
  • “She likes to read Russian novels”
Antonyms
3.

be fond of

  • “I like my nephews”
4.

feel about or towards; consider, evaluate, or regard

  • “How did you like the President”
5.

want to have

  • “I”

adjective

1.

resembling or similar; having the same or some of the same characteristics; often used in combination

  • “suits of like design”
  • “a limited circle of like minds”
  • “members of the cat family have like dispositions”
  • “as like as two peas in a pod”
  • “doglike devotion”
  • “a dreamlike quality”
Synonyms
Antonyms
Similar
2.

equal in amount or value

  • “like amounts”
  • “equivalent amounts”
  • “the same amount”
  • “gave one six blows and the other a like number”
  • “an equal number”
  • “the same number”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

having the same or similar characteristics

  • “all politicians are alike”
  • “they looked utterly alike”
  • “friends are generaly alike in background and taste”
Synonyms
Antonyms
4.

conforming in every respect

  • “boxes with corresponding dimensions”
  • “the like period of the preceding year”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). 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”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).

Phrases

  • and the like
  • as like as not
  • as you like
  • be like
  • bend it like Beckham
  • do someone like that
  • done like a dinner
  • feel like
  • I like that
  • I like turtles
  • I'd like to know
  • I'm in this photo and I don't like it

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.