a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
nearly; closely; approximately: The house is more like 40 than 20 years old.
17.
Informal. likely or probably: Like enough he'll come with us. Like as not her leg is broken.
18.
Nonstandard.
a.
as it were; in a way; somehow.
b.
to a degree; more or less: standing against the wall, looking very tough like.
conjunction
19.
in the same way as; just as; as: It happened like you might expect it would.
20.
as if: He acted like he was afraid. The car runs like new.
21.
Informal. (used especially after forms of be to introduce reported speech or thought): She's like, "I don't believe it," and I'm like, "No, it's true!"
noun
22.
a similar or comparable person or thing, or like persons or things; counterpart, match, or equal (usually preceded by a possessive adjective or the): No one has seen his like in a long time. Like attracts like.
23.
kind; sort; type; ilk (usually preceded by a possessive adjective): I despise moochers and their like.
24.
the like, something of a similar nature: They grow oranges, lemons, and the like.
interjection
25.
Informal. (used especially in speech, often nonvolitionally or habitually, to preface a sentence, to fill a pause, to express uncertainty, or to intensify or neutralize a following adjective): Like, why didn't you write to me? The music was, like, really great, you know?
Idioms
26.
like anything, Informal. very much; extremely; with great intensity: He wanted like anything to win.
27.
like to, South Midland and Southern U.S.was on the verge of or came close to (doing something): The poor kid like to froze. Also, liked to.
28.
something like, Informal. something approaching or approximating: It looked something like this.
29.
the like/likes of, someone or something similar to; the equal of: I've never seen the like of it anywhere.
Origin: 1150–1200; Middle English lic, lik < Old Norse līkr; replacing Old English gelīc, cognate with Dutch gelijk,German gleich,Old Norse glīkr,Gothic galeiks like, literally, of the same body or form. See y-, lich
Related forms
lik·er, noun
Usage note Like1 as a conjunction meaning “as, in the same way as” (Many shoppers study the food ads like brokers study market reports) or “as if” (It looks like it will rain) has been used for nearly 500 years and by many distinguished literary and intellectual figures. Since the mid-19th century there have been objections, often vehement, to these uses. Nevertheless, such uses are almost universal today in all but the most formal speech and writing. EXPANDIn extremely careful speech and in much formal writing, as, as if, and as though are more commonly used than like: The commanding general accepted full responsibility for the incident, as any professional soldier would. Many of the Greenwich Village bohemians lived as if (or as though) there were no tomorrow. The strong strictures against the use of like as a conjunction have resulted in the occasional hypercorrect use of as as a preposition where like is idiomatic: She looks as a sympathetic person. Like meaning “as if” is also standard in informal speech and writing with a small number of adjectives: The crew worked like crazy (or like mad) to finish the job on time.See also as.
O.E. lician "to please," from P.Gmc. *likojanan (cf. O.N. lika, O.Fris. likia, O.H.G. lihhen, Goth. leikan "to please"), from *liko- "body," originally "appearance, form." The basic meaning seems to be "to be like" (see like (adj.)), thus, "to be suitable." Like (and dislike)
interj. an emphatic or meaningless word that, when said frequently, marks the speaker as speaking in a very casual or slangy mode. (See also like, you know. Used in writing only for effect.) : This is, like, so silly!
interj. a particle meaning roughly saying. (Always with some form of be. Never used in formal writing.) : And I'm like, “Well, you should have put your hat on!”
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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