What does like mean?

What does like mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does like mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] a similar kind(dogs, foxes, and the like we don't want the likes of you around here)[v] prefer or wish to do something(Do you care to try this dish? Would you like to come along to the movies?)[a] resembling or similar; having the same or some of the same characteristics; often used in

like

like - The Free Dictionary

[n] a similar kind
(dogs, foxes, and the like we don't want the likes of you around here)

[v] prefer or wish to do something
(Do you care to try this dish? Would you like to come along to the movies?)

[a] resembling or similar; having the same or some of the same characteristics; often used in combination
(suits of like design a limited circle of like minds members of the cat family have like dispositions as like as two peas in a pod doglike devotion a dreamlike quality)

[n] a kind of person
(We'll not see his like again I can't tolerate people of his ilk)

[v] find enjoyable or agreeable
(I like jogging She likes to read Russian novels)

[a] equal in amount or value
(like amounts equivalent amounts the same amount gave one six blows and the other a like number the same number)

[v] be fond of
(I like my nephews)

[a] having the same or similar characteristics
(all politicians are alike they looked utterly alike friends are generally alike in background and taste)

[v] feel about or towards; consider, evaluate, or regard
(How did you like the President's speech last night?)

[a] conforming in every respect
(boxes with corresponding dimensions the like period of the preceding year)

[v] want to have
(I'd like a beer now!)

Other vocabulary

l, l'aquila, l'enfant, l-dopa, l-p, l-plate, l-shaped, l. m. montgomery, l. monocytogenes, l. ron hubbard, l. s. lowry, la, la crosse, la fayette, la fontaine, la paz, la plata, la rochefoucauld, la spezia, la tour, la-di-da, laager, lab, lab bench, lab coat, laban, labanotation, labdanum, label, labeled, i, i chronicles, i corinthians, i esdra, i john, i kings, i maccabees, i peter, i samuel, i thessalonians, i timothy, i-beam, i. a. richards, i. f. stone, i. m. pei, i.d., i.e., i.e.d., i.q., i.w.w., ia, iaa, iaea, iago, iamb, iambic, iambus, ian douglas smith, ian fleming, ian lancaster fleming

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.