Like

a. [compar. LIKER; superl. LIKEST.] [A-S. lic, gelic, O. Sax. lic, gilic, O. Fries. & Sw. lik, Icel. likr, Dan. liig, D. lijk, Goth. leiks, galeiks, O. H. Ger. lih, glih, M. H. Ger. glich, gelich, N. H. Ger. gleich, from A-S. lic, Icel. lik, O. H. Ger. lih, Goth. leik, body, flesh, kind, form.] 1. Equal in quantity, quality, or degree; exactly corresponding; as, a territory of like extent with another; men of like excellence. More clergymen were impoverished by the late war than ever in the like space before. Sprat. 2. Nearly equal; having resemblance; similar; resembling; — often with to. “Who produced something so much like the admired copies of the masters.” Jeffrey. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. James v. 17. 3. Inclined toward; exposed to; giving reason to be expected or believed; probable; likely; — sometimes with to. But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices. South. Many were not easy to be governed, nor like to conform themselves to strict rules. Clarendon. Had like, had nearly, came little short of.—Like figures. (Geom.) See SIMILAR.

n. That which is equal or similar to another; the counterpart; an exact resemblance; a copy. He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again. Shak.

A liking; fancy, or inclination. Likes and dislikes, feelings of attachment and aversion.

[A-S. gelice. See supra.] 1. In a like manner. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matt. vi. 29. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Ps. ciii. 13. 2. In a manner becoming. Be strong, and quit yourselves like men. 1 Sam. iv. 9. 3. Likely; probably. “Like enough it will.” Shak.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. LIKED (lĭkt); p. pr. & vb. n. LIKING.] [A-S. lician, gelician, O. Sax. licon, gilicon, O. Fries. likia, D. lijken, Goth. leikan, ga-leikan, Icel. líka, O. H. Ger. lichen, gelichen.]

1Sense 1. To be pleased with in a moderate degree; to approve; to take satisfaction in; to enjoy.

He proceeded from looking to liking, and from liking to loving. Sidney.

2Sense 2. To please; to be agreeable to; — used impersonally. [Obs.]

I willingly confess that it likes me better when I find virtue in a fair lodging than when I am bound to seek it in an ill-favored creature. Sidney.

This desire being recommended to her majesty, it liked her to include the same within one entire lease. Bacon.

3Sense 3. To liken. [Obs.] “And like me to the peasant boys of France.” Shak.

v. i. 1. To be pleased; to choose. “He may go or stay, as he likes.” Locke. 2. To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly; as, he liked to have been too late; he liked to have lost his hat. [Colloq.] To like of, to be pleased with. [Obs.] Massinger.