Etimology
Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian (“to like, to please”), from Proto-West Germanic *līkēn, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, from Proto-Indo-European *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”). Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).
verb
like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)
To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
(transitive, archaic) To please.
(obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
(obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
(archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
(obsolete) To liken; to compare.
(Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
(with 'would' and in certain other phrases) To want, desire. See also would like.
Of inanimate objects:
Examples
Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike
I like hamburgers.
I like skiing in winter.
I like the Seattle Mariners this season.
He may either go or stay, as he best likes.
“I can tell you more than that, if you like,” said the Gryphon. “Do you know why it’s called a whiting?”
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.
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.
His countenance likes me not.
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.
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.
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.
People in Washington like to work out!
Audio
You like well, and bear your years very well.
He liked to have been too late.
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.
Synonyms: fancy, enjoy, love
Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike
I really like Sandra but don't know how to tell her.
― Enju: “Apparently when you like someone, you start talking like them.”
And like me to the peasant boys of France.
Antonyms: unlike, dislike
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.
What' up, y'all? I'm the last man on Earth. Shit's all fucked up. Don't forget to like and subscribe. We out here.
Would you like a cigarette?
We could go to the museum if you like.
I don't like to disturb him when he's working.
Too bad this cheese likes to stick to the pan and ruin the whole meal.
This self-service checkout doesn't seem to like my credit card.
We were frustrated that our seeming innocent choice for a team name was rejected by the game. Apparently somewhere in the name is a word that the algorithm doesn’t like.
email delivery failed: remote host does not like recipient
Related words
related terms
like like
would like
noun
like (plural likes)
(chiefly in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).
(Internet) An individual vote showing support for, approval of, or enjoyment of, something posted on the Internet.
Examples
Synonyms: favorite, preference
Antonyms: dislike, pet hate, pet peeve
Tell me your likes and dislikes.
Social media is supervisual, and there's nothing more shareable than images, so this is a way to increase shares and likes and follows.
Dress for myself, I don't dress for hype / I dress for myself, you dress for the likes
Likes are the social media currency undergirding an entire influencer economy, inspiring a million Kardashian wannabes and giving many of us regular people daily endorphin hits.
Etimology
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).
adjective
like (comparative more like, superlative most like)
Similar.
(archaic or Scotland, Southern US) Likely; probable.
(Scotland, Southern US, otherwise archaic, usually with to) inclined (to), prone (to).
Examples
My partner and I have like minds.
The two cats were as like as though they had come from the same litter.
It will seem strange that in all this time the Presbytery was idle, and no effort was made to rid the place of so fell an influence. But there was a reason, and the reason, as in most like cases, was a lassie.
[…] 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.
I opened the man's linen robe, and there over his heart was a dagger-wound, and beneath the woman's fair breast was a like cruel stab, through which her life had ebbed away.
But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.
Many were […] not easy to be govern'd, nor like to conform themselves to such strict rules.
Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our Sprit-ſail, and ſtood by to hand the Fore-ſail; but making foul Weather, we look'd the Guns were all faſt, and handed the Miſſen.
She had waited overlong, and now it was like that Ailie would escape her toils.
He seems like to run from any semblance of hard work.
"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.
Related words
related terms
as like as not
adverb
like (comparative more like, superlative most like)
(obsolete, colloquial) Likely.
(archaic or rare) In a like or similar manner.
Examples
DON PEDRO. May be she doth but counterfeit.CLAUDIO. Faith, like enough.Indeed, quite likely.
Indeed, quite likely.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
noun
like (countable and uncountable, plural likes)
(sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
(golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
Examples
"Such things do happen and centre round the wicked medium. You can get down into a region which is akin to the popular idea of witchcraft, it is dishonest to deny it." "Like attracts like," explained Mrs. Mailey[.]
We shall never see his like again.
It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July the 26th was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth.
In fact it would be fair to say that he had reached a level of annoyance the like of which had never been seen in the Universe.
There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.
It was something the likes of which I had never seen before.
to play the like
Related words
synonyms
ilk
antonyms
antithesis, opposite
conjunction
like
See Usage notes below.
(colloquial) As, the way.
(usually colloquial) As if; as though.
Examples
Winston tastes good like a cigarette should
But if you do right to me, babyI’ll do right to you, tooYa got to do unto othersLike you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you
It looks like you've finished the project.
It seemed like you didn't care.
preposition
like
Similar to, reminiscent of
Typical of
Approximating
In the manner of, similarly to
Such as
As if there would be
Used to ask for a description or opinion of someone or something
Examples
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.
Popcorn costs something like $10 dollars at the movies.
He doesn't act like a president.
It's for websites like Wikipedia.
It looks like a hot summer in Europe.
I hear she has a new boyfriend. What's he like?
What's the weather like in Ürümqi today?
Related words
synonyms
(such as): for example, such as, (archaic) as
antonyms
unlike
Etimology
From like (adverb) and like (adjective).
verb
like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)
(chiefly dialectal, intransitive) To be likely.
Examples
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.