3like preposition
1 : similar to (something or someone)
▪ The house looks like a barn. ▪ Real life isn't at all like life in the movies. = Real life isn't at all like the movies. ▪ It's like when we were kids. ▪ She's not very (much) like her sister. ▪ She's not at all like her sister. ▪ The baby is/looks more like his mother than his father. ▪ “Who is he like?” “He's not like anyone I've ever met before.” ▪ I know I used to be selfish, but I'm not like that any more. [=I'm not selfish any more] — used with what in phrases that ask about or refer to the qualities of a person or thing ▪ “What's her new boyfriend like?” [=how would you describe her new boyfriend?] “He's very nice.” ▪ 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] ▪ 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] ▪ She knows what it's like to be lonely. = She knows what it feels like to be lonely. 2 : typical of (someone)
▪ It's just like him to be late. [=he is often late] ▪ It's not like her to be so selfish. [=she is not usually so selfish] 3 : comparable to or close to (something)
▪ It costs something like five dollars. [=it costs about five dollars] ▪ (chiefly Brit) That's nothing like [=nowhere near, not nearly] enough food! ▪ 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] ▪ There's nothing like [=nothing better than] a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night. 4 : in a way that is similar to (someone or something)
▪ Quit acting like a fool. ▪ She was screaming like a maniac. ▪ We'll blow it up like a balloon. ▪ He was laughing like a hyena. 5 — used to introduce an example or series of examples ▪ They studied subjects like [=such as] physics (and chemistry).
▪ The house looks like a barn. ▪ Real life isn't at all like life in the movies. = Real life isn't at all like the movies. ▪ It's like when we were kids. ▪ She's not very (much) like her sister. ▪ She's not at all like her sister. ▪ The baby is/looks more like his mother than his father. ▪ “Who is he like?” “He's not like anyone I've ever met before.” ▪ I know I used to be selfish, but I'm not like that any more. [=I'm not selfish any more] — used with what in phrases that ask about or refer to the qualities of a person or thing ▪ “What's her new boyfriend like?” [=how would you describe her new boyfriend?] “He's very nice.” ▪ 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] ▪ 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] ▪ She knows what it's like to be lonely. = She knows what it feels like to be lonely.
▪ It's just like him to be late. [=he is often late] ▪ It's not like her to be so selfish. [=she is not usually so selfish]
▪ It costs something like five dollars. [=it costs about five dollars] ▪ (chiefly Brit) That's nothing like [=nowhere near, not nearly] enough food! ▪ 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] ▪ There's nothing like [=nothing better than] a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night.
▪ Quit acting like a fool. ▪ She was screaming like a maniac. ▪ We'll blow it up like a balloon. ▪ He was laughing like a hyena.
it looks like rain
— used to say that you think it is going to rain soon ▪ I was going to play golf, but it looks like rain.
just like that — see 2just
like father, like son — see 1father
like new — see 1new
like so
: in the manner shown — used in speech when you are showing someone how to do something ▪ The corner of the cloth should be folded down, like so.
like that 1 : of that kind
▪ I love books like that. 2 : in that manner
▪ Why does she talk like that?
▪ I love books like that.
▪ Why does she talk like that?
like this 1 : of this kind
▪ I love weather like this. 2 : in this manner
▪ I hate it when it rains like this.
▪ I love weather like this.
▪ I hate it when it rains like this.
more like it
informal — used to say that something is better or more pleasing ▪ “I've done twice as much today as yesterday!” “Well, that's more like it! Congratulations!” ▪ It was a long and tiring day, but as the waiter brought me my dinner, I thought to myself, “Well, this is more like it.”
