Like | Mean of like in English Dictionary

/ˈlaɪk/

• Verb
• to enjoy (something)
1. My son likes baseball.
2. He likes baseball, but he loves football.
3. Do you like Mexican food?
4. I liked the movie a lot more than I thought I would.
5. She likes (it) that I play the guitar. = She likes the fact that I play the guitar.
6. She likes it when I play the guitar. [=she enjoys hearing me play the guitar]
7. I like it very much. = I really like it. = (chiefly Brit) I quite like it.
8. I like playing the guitar.
9. He doesn't like admitting that he was wrong.
10. I like to play the guitar.
11. He doesn't like to admit that he was wrong.
• to regard (something) in a favorable way
1. I don't like the idea of leaving my mother alone all week. [=I don't think that it would be a good idea to leave my mother alone all week]
2. I wouldn't like it if you got the wrong idea. = I wouldn't like you to get the wrong idea. = (US) I wouldn't like for you to get the wrong idea. [=I don't want you to get the wrong idea]
• to feel affection for (someone)
1. I don't know what it is about that guy, but I just don't like him.
2. I think she likes you. [=I think she is attracted to you]
3. They were political allies who truly/genuinely liked each other.
4. What is it that you like or dislike about him most?
5. a much-liked/well-liked colleague
6. She says she likes him as a friend but she's not attracted to him.
7. My boss was a tough guy, but I liked him for his honesty.

• to want to have (something)
1. Would you like another cup of coffee?
2. “Would anyone like a drink?” “Yes, I'd like one, please.”
3. I'd like (a chance) to reply to the last speaker.
• to want or prefer to do something
1. Would you like to go sailing? [=do you want to go sailing?]
2. Despite everything, I (would) still like to think that people are basically good.
• to choose or prefer to have (something) in a specified way or condition
1. “How do you like your steaks cooked?” “I like my steaks medium rare.”
• to make a choice about what to do, have, etc.
1. You can leave any time you like.
2. “What should we do now?” “Whatever you like!” [=whatever you want to do]
3. We can stay as long as you like. [=as long as you want to stay]
4. There are plenty of cookies, so take as many as you like.
• to do well in (certain conditions)
1. This plant likes dry soil.
2. My car does not like cold weather.
• Noun
• something that you like, approve of, or enjoy
1. my likes and dislikes
• similar to (something or someone)
1. The house looks like a barn.
2. Real life isn't at all like life in the movies. = Real life isn't at all like the movies.
3. It's like when we were kids.
4. She's not very (much) like her sister.
5. She's not at all like her sister.
6. The baby is/looks more like his mother than his father.
7. “Who is he like?” “He's not like anyone I've ever met before.”
8. I know I used to be selfish, but I'm not like that any more. [=I'm not selfish any more]
9. “What's her new boyfriend like?” [=how would you describe her new boyfriend?] “He's very nice.”
10. I don't know what the food is like in that restaurant. [=I don't know if the food is good or bad in that restaurant]
11. I thought he was nice, but then I found out what he's really like. [=I found out what kind of person he really is]
12. She knows what it's like to be lonely. = She knows what it feels like to be lonely.
• typical of (someone)
1. It's just like him to be late. [=he is often late]
2. It's not like her to be so selfish. [=she is not usually so selfish]
• comparable to or close to (something)
1. It costs something like five dollars. [=it costs about five dollars]
2. (chiefly Brit) That's nothing like [=nowhere near, not nearly] enough food!
3. I thought it would only take two or three minutes, but it ended up taking more like half an hour. [=it took about half an hour]
4. There's nothing like [=nothing better than] a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night.
• in a way that is similar to (someone or something)
1. Quit acting like a fool.
2. She was screaming like a maniac.
3. We'll blow it up like a balloon.
4. He was laughing like a hyena.
• in the manner shown
1. The corner of the cloth should be folded down, like so.
• of that kind
1. I love books like that.
• in that manner
1. Why does she talk like that?
• of this kind
1. I love weather like this.
• in this manner
1. I hate it when it rains like this.
• having the same or similar qualities
1. All three sisters have like [=(more commonly) similar] dispositions.
• a person or thing that is similar to another person or thing
1. We may never see his like again. [=we may never see another person who is like him again]
2. It was a beautiful sunset. I've never seen the like before.
• a group of similar people or things
1. He and his like [=type] tend to scare people away from the cause.
2. comparing like with like [=comparing similar people or things]
• and others of a similar kind
1. They told stories about ghosts and vampires and the like.
• such people as
1. She has read the complete works of many great writers, including the likes of Jane Austen and Robert Browning.
• such a person as
1. We have no use for the likes of you.
• the kind or sort of
1. It was a beautiful sunset, the likes of which I've never seen before. [=I've never seen such a beautiful sunset before]
• the way it would be if
1. The plane looked like [=as if] it would crash.
2. It seemed like [=as if] he'd never been away.
• the way someone would do if
1. She acts like [=as if] she's better than us.
• the same as
1. You sound just like [=the way] he does.
2. Does it look like [=the way, as] it did when you began?
3. Does it look now like (it did) before? [=does it look now as it did before?]
4. Real life is not like [=as, the way] it is in the movies.
5. Real life isn't at all like [=the way] the movies are.
6. Like I said [=as I said] before, you've got to try harder.
• in the way or manner that
1. I did it like [=the way, just as] you told me.
• such as
1. a bag like a doctor carries [=a bag like the kind of bag that a doctor carries]
2. The book tells you what to do when your car has trouble—like when it won't start. [=as, for example, when it won't start]