LIKE


Meaning of LIKE in English

I. preposition

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a bit like

She looks a bit like my sister.

a face like thunder (= a very angry expression )

The boss had a face like thunder when he arrived this morning.

attract/draw sb/sth like a magnet

She drew men to her like a magnet.

avoid...like the plague (= try hard to avoid him )

Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague .

be shaking like a leaf (= be shaking a lot because you are nervous or frightened )

Diana was shaking like a leaf when she got up to give her talk.

be/seem like a dream (= seem unreal )

That summer was so wonderful it seemed like a dream.

came down on...like a ton of bricks (= very severely )

I made the mistake of answering back, and she came down on me like a ton of bricks .

can’t go on like this

I can’t go on like this for much longer.

cry like a baby (= cry a lot and without control )

I cried like a baby when I heard the news.

drinks like a fish (= regularly drinks a lot of alcohol )

My flatmate Cherry drinks like a fish .

eat like a bird (= eat very little )

Ever since she was a child, Jan had always eaten like a bird.

eat like a horse (= eat a lot )

She eats like a horse but never puts on any weight!

exactly like

She tries to be exactly like her older sister.

feel like crying

I feel like crying every time I think about that day.

feels like

It’s nice fabric – it feels like velvet.

felt like

I felt like I’d really achieved something.

fit...like a glove (= fit you very well )

I know this dress is going to fit you like a glove .

grow to like/hate/respect etc

After a while the kids grew to like Mr Cox.

the city he had grown to love

have a memory like a sieve (= forget things very easily )

I'm sorry, I have a memory like a sieve. I forgot you were coming today!

hung like a sword of Damocles over

The treaty hung like a sword of Damocles over French politics.

hurt like hell informal (= hurt very much )

My shoulder hurts like hell.

it looks as if/as though/like (= it seems likely that )

It looks as if it might rain later.

It looks like they won’t be needing us any more.

it looks like rain (= rain appears likely because there are dark clouds in the sky )

We ate indoors because it looked like rain.

it seemed like a good idea

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It seems like

It seems like you’re catching a cold, Taylor.

it...feels like

It’s been a year since her daughter died, but to her, it still feels like yesterday.

know...like the back of my hand (= I know it very well )

I grew up here; I know the place like the back of my hand .

Like a fool

Like a fool , I accepted straight away.

like a madman

He drives like a madman .

like a maniac

He drove like a maniac to the hospital.

like a man/woman possessed literary (= with a lot of energy or violence )

like a vice

He held my arm like a vice .

like chalk and cheese

They’re like chalk and cheese , those two.

like it or lump it

It’s the law so you can like it or lump it .

like your style (= approve of the way you do things )

I like your style , Simpson.

like/enjoy cooking

I enjoy cooking at the weekend.

like/love/enjoy nothing better (than)

She likes nothing better than a nice long walk along the beach.

likes and dislikes

A good hotel manager should know his regular guests’ likes and dislikes .

look as if/as though/like

He looked as if he hadn’t washed for a week.

look like

What did the man look like ?

look...like

My sister doesn’t look anything like me.

not a bit like

You’re not a bit like your brother.

not like the look of sb/sth (= think that something bad has happened or will happen because of something’s appearance )

We should turn back now. It’s getting dark and I don’t like the look of those rain clouds.

put sth like that/this

‘He's been completely irresponsible.’ ‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that.’

quite like/enjoy

I quite like Chinese food.

ran like hell (= ran very quickly, especially in order to escape )

He picked up the child and ran like hell .

rather like

Actually I rather like the new style of architecture.

running around like headless chickens (= trying to do a lot of things, in an anxious or disorganized way )

We were all running around like headless chickens .

screaming like a banshee

She was screaming like a banshee .

seemed like hours

We waited for what seemed like hours .

sleep like a log ( also sleep like a baby ) informal (= sleep very well )

I was exhausted and slept like a log.

spread like wildfire (= spread extremely quickly )

The news spread like wildfire through the town.

sth sounds (like) fun (= seems to be enjoyable )

The picnic sounded like fun.

stuff like that

He does mountain biking and skiing, and stuff like that .

suspiciously like

This sounded suspiciously like an attempt to get rid of me.

sweat like a pig/sweat buckets informal (= sweat a lot )

basketball players sweating buckets

talking like that (= expressing things in a particular way )

Don’t let Dad hear you talking like that .

too much like hard work (= it would involve too much work )

Becoming a doctor never interested him. It was too much like hard work .

treat sb like dirt informal (= very badly and with no respect )

He treated this wife like dirt.

treated...like muck (= very badly )

I’m not surprised she left. He treated her like muck .

treated...like royalty

At school the other children treated them like royalty .

treat...like a doormat

Don’t let him treat you like a doormat .

turned up like...bad penny (= suddenly appeared )

Sure enough, Steve turned up like the proverbial bad penny .

went down like a lead balloon (= was not popular or successful )

The idea went down like a lead balloon .

what seemed like an eternity

Here she waited for what seemed like an eternity .

what sounded like

I heard what sounded like fireworks.

What...like about

What I like about the job is that it’s never boring.

would dearly like

I would dearly like to know what she said.

would like/love/prefer

Yes, please, I’d love a coffee.

My parents would like to meet you.

Claudia would have liked to refuse wanted to refuse , but she didn’t dare.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(be/feel) like a fish out of water

I felt like a fish out of water.

In his first interview since the move, he still looks like a fish out of water.

(like) rats leaving the sinking ship

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

a voice like a foghorn

anything like sb/sth

Does Brenda look anything like her mother?

as if/as though/like you own the place

be (like) a drug

At 17 he was a drug addict.

Casodex is a drug that blocks the release of testosterone, a hormone that is linked to prostate cancer.

I would have loved a drink, but I thought it might be drugged .

Of those held in federal rather than state prisons, 60 % are drug offenders with no history of violence.

The more complete descriptive term is drug elimination half-life.

The most worrisome cross-border export, however, is drugs .

The robber bridegroom could be a drug pusher in-stead of a homicidal cannibal, for instance.

Tobacco is a drug and addicts should be given a chance to ease off gradually.

be (like) a morgue

be (like) a mother to sb

be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall

be dropping like flies

Players from both teams are dropping like flies.

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies, supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies.

They should be dropping like flies, but that hasn't been the case.

be dying/dropping etc like flies

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies , supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies .

The men were dying like flies , of fever.

They should be dropping like flies , but that hasn't been the case.

be like a bear with a sore head

be like gold dust

be like talking to a brick wall

be of one mind/of the same mind/of like mind

be packed like sardines

We were packed like sardines on the train.

On the other side of the building turtles are packed like sardines into more tanks.

be selling/going like hot cakes

be to sb's liking

I hope everything in the suite was to your liking , sir.

After deciding that a paper looks, feels and smells to your liking , a few other factors should be considered.

Congressional Republicans have made an increase in the debt ceiling contingent on a balanced budget agreement to their liking .

However, with the two medium-sized potatoes and a spoonful of carrots, she found this also quite to her liking .

Joining the group for 12 laps of grassy field surrounding the track, I found their easy pace to my liking .

Need I add that impairment is more to my liking than good health?

She found herself praying that this batch would be more to his liking than the last.

The second half is more to her liking .

This may be to your liking so it is worth experimenting with three, four and five rises.

be/feel like a new man/woman

be/feel/look like your old self

After five months in the hospital, I'm feeling like my old self again.

be/seem/look nothing like sb/sth

Certainly the lateral geniculate nucleus in rats looks nothing like the lateral geniculate nucleus in monkeys.

It's classed as being a conifer but it looks nothing like one.

Remember that the intermediate stored pattern may be pretty abstract, looking nothing like the input pattern.

She insisted that I looked nothing like Majella.

She looked nothing like her photograph.

The problem is that in its juvenile form it looks nothing like the adult specimen.

The zone blitz can fluster an offense because it looks nothing like a conventional blitz.

This suspect looks nothing like Nichols, a slightly built, light-skinned man in his 40s with thinning hair.

can read sb like a book

I can read you like a book - some book I've read six times already.

come down on sb like a ton of bricks

do sth like the devil

They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil .

He holds me like the devil himself.

Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.

It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil .

Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.

The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.

They scampered off, barking like the devil .

Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.

do sth like there's no tomorrow

Ben drives like there's no tomorrow .

I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow .

drop/go down like ninepins

Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.

feel like (doing) sth

I just don't feel like doing anything tonight.

Joe says he feels like Mexican food.

But the whole thing feels like a retread.&.

He feels like the captain of a sleeping ship, alone at the helm, steering his oblivious crew through dangerous seas.

I hang up, feeling like a wind-up toy.

She felt like screaming at him, but she was determined not to lose her self-control.

The careful procession into the Hall had felt like a kind of funeral.

They stepped forward, and his muscles stiffened until they felt like bone.

You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.

feel like/turn to jelly

feel/look like a million bucks

feel/look like hell

He looks like hell and sounds awful, but then, as he's the first to admit, he always did.

In that case I would peak earlier and higher and then feel like hell for the rest of the day.

feel/look like shit

I woke up with a hangover and felt like shit for the rest of the day.

And it used to make me feel like shit to hear that.

Everytime I am about to go to a cup match I imagine myself travelling back home feeling like shit .

Here goes ... I expected to look like shit but this was ridiculous.

I try to think of nice ways to comment on his appearance without saying he looks like shit .

It's a terrible thing to be told that and then to do what the director says and it feels like shit .

The school made you feel like shit .

We really do look like shit .

You looked like shit the other night.

fight like cat and dog

for all the world as if/as though/like

for sb's liking

get on/along like a house on fire

get to like/know/understand sb/sth

All I had to do was got to know his taste in food.

Come to think of it, he'd seemed rather a decent chap, some one it might be worth getting to know.

He got to know Bill Clinton quite well when they were together at Oxford as Rhodes scholars.

I would like to get to know customers well 8.

It was one of Brian's three daughters, Karen, who got to know Kirsty.

Mrs Nowak and Taczek must have got to know most of the truth and stuck by the cover story.

She had seen a leaflet about the YCs and thought that this would provide a good way of getting to know people.

So I got , I sort of got to know her.

go down like a lead balloon

go/be out like a light

She was out like a light , as soon as we put her in bed.

A minute later he went out like a light .

Either it was the brandy or it was the heat, but she went out like a light .

I went out like a light .

Something hit me on the back of the head, here, and I went out like a light .

go/run like clockwork

A universe that ran like clockwork also evinced design.

And if Lais and Leonore created the promised diversion the plan would go like clockwork .

Sometimes it ran like clockwork , sometimes-as I wrote at the time-it ran like the movie Clockwise.

Then we had been surprised when our ascent of the nearby Jankopiti had gone like clockwork .

Whereas Prost had been delayed as the Ferrari mechanics fiddled with the right-rear wheel, Senna's stop went like clockwork .

have a memory like a sieve

You'd better remind him about the party - he's got a memory like a sieve !

have eyes like a hawk

My mother had eyes like a hawk.

have eyes like a hawk

hit sb like a ton of bricks

The news of her accident hit me like a ton of bricks.

hold/hang on for/like grim death

how about that!/how do you like that!

how you like/want

First decide how you want to set up your directories.

Is this how we want to spend our dotage?

It's how we like to see ourselves.

Live your life how you want.

Oh, how I wanted to win!

Oh, how she wanted him to.

Remember how he wanted us to think he was a good guy at heart?

You try reading this with only one eye and see how you like it.

in/like a flash

The computer can sort and edit a mailing list in a flash .

He also had a nature that went violent in a flash .

If he knew what I wanted he'd be out of the car and away in a flash of shock.

It's all done in a flash these days.

It was over in a flash .

Shelby chooses the green chair for her dad, then like a flash , she's off to the house.

The lesson seemed to pass in a flash .

Two shots, they stop in a flash .

We went by the tower like a flash and landed on the red cross near the newly set-up hospital tent.

like Darby and Joan

like a (hot) knife through butter

Lori seemed to go through men like a knife through butter.

like a bat out of hell

I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital.

They took off like a bat out of hell for Tan Son Nhut.

like a bull at a gate

They may fight like a lion or go at something like a bull at a gate.

like a bull in a china shop

Politically, he often behaved like a bull in a china shop.

You're not going to go storming in there like a bull in a china shop again?

like a cat on hot bricks

like a dog with two tails

like a dose of salts

L.M. True - like a dose of salts!

like a dream

The new car drives like a dream .

But elsewhere Dream Stuff does not soothe.Life is like a dream because it is beyond control.

He kept talking about it, like a dream .

It is like a dream come true.

Others, like dreams of fame or wealth, are egocentric.

Some, like dreams of providing a great service, are altruistic.

These tiresome but, one hopes, isolated problems aside, our Metro 1.1S is still running like a dream .

Those few short months with Tony seemed sometimes like a dream to her.

like a lamb

Suzie went off to school like a lamb today.

He felt he had taken his only child like a lamb to the slaughter.

I certainly don't like lamb for three meals running.

March, according to the weather proverb, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb .

While others were being lionised he conducted himself like a lamb or even a mouse.

like a lamb to the slaughter

like a mother hen

like a rabbit/deer caught in headlights

like a red rag to a bull

Naturally this was like a red rag to a bull and I refused to even consider such a course of action.

like a shot

She slammed the phone down and was out of the room like a shot .

He asked Jeter if he'd like a shot at it.

I'd tell you like a shot if we ever got into a real jam.

It is not a direct stimulant, like a shot of adrenaline.

She'd be off to Legoland like a shot , to see that caretaker, if Henry said anything.

Sometimes they fall over one another, like shots from a rapid-fire camera.

The great majority, once they breach the system and hear the telltale whine, are out of there like a shot .

Travis had left the door open - she seized her chance, and was through it like a shot .

like an oven

I wish they'd turn off the heat. It's like an oven in here.

It's like an oven in here. Let's open some windows.

The heat of the day made the gymnasium feel like an oven .

Makes it like an oven , spoiling the negatives.

The room is like an oven already.

like anything

Tom only left last week and I already miss him like anything .

But like anything else worthy of our attention, it takes a little educating.

I mean, eight singles hardly seems like anything at all.

If it was like anything , thought Henry, it was probably like the art of eating out.

It may not be perfect, and it may not even be like anything we have seen before.

Somewhat softened by wind erosion, the surface none the less looked more like the lunar highlands than like anything on Earth.

The interior is nothing like anything I've seen before.

They would probably worry like anything .

To intense, hardworking young Taylor, the practice could scarcely have seemed like anything but the most shameless sloth.

like blazes

We're going to have to work like blazes to win this time!

You could lean into the wind and it was raining like blazes .

like clockwork

At 6:30 every evening, like clockwork , Ari went out to milk the cows.

The charity event was well organized and ran like clockwork .

like crazy

These mosquito bites on my leg are itching like crazy .

We ran like crazy to the bus stop.

like father like son

like fun

"I'm going to Barbara's house." "Like fun you are! Come and finish your chores first."

like fury

like gangbusters

Fraser's historical novels are selling like gangbusters .

like getting blood out of a stone

like greased lightning

They expect the bill to move through Congress like greased lightning.

The following passage exemplifies, for Rees, macho characteristics: Clogger moved like greased lightning.

like hell/the hell

like it's going out of fashion

She's been spending money like it's going out of fashion .

like lightning

Her foot slipped on the smooth tiles but Mitch moved like lightning and caught her before she fell.

Somewhere a dog barked and, like lightning , the cat darted into some bushes.

The cat ran up the tree like lightning .

like looking for a needle in a haystack

like mad

like magic/as if by magic

like new/as good as new

like nobody's business

People are buying Internet stocks like nobody's business.

like sheep

like so

Then turn the paper over and fold it, like so .

like the cat that got the cream

like the wind

A light wind ruffled the leaves of the trees, but it was warm, not cold like the winds of winter.

Cos it looks like the wind blew her face inside out.

He swept towards me, like the wind raising a storm as soaring eagles raise dust.

Something was sweeping through that massive arena like the wind moving through the top of the trees.

The boy was driving like the wind when suddenly we hit something.

We rode like the wind and by ten o'clock had come to the edge of the forest of Zenda.

Will and I ran like the wind and only stopped when we reached the river.

like two peas in a pod

like water

like water off a duck's back

like weeds

Aerials sprout up like weeds on the roof.

Cars were suffocating the roads like weeds .

Flavor-of-the-month or program-du-jour comments crop up like weeds .

Still, development had sprung up around the edges, like weeds encroaching on a garden.

The eggplants flourished, and the next spring more of them popped up all over the garden like weeds .

liking for sb/sth

She'd tried to hide her liking for him.

look like a drowned rat

Out in the field, we looked like a bunch of drowned rats .

You were looking like a drowned rat after our little foray into Puddephat's rooms.

look like sth the cat dragged/brought in

look/feel etc like nothing on earth

look/feel like a million dollars/bucks

I felt like a million dollars.

look/feel like death warmed up

make like

make out like a bandit

Insurance companies always make out like bandits.

Salomon Brothers and my customer made out like bandits.

much like sth/much as

Based on one of Aesop's fables, it was as much like a limerick as one of Shakespeare's sonnets.

For at school, the young man would be surrounded by men much like him-self.

The space inside looked as much like a junkyard as the space outside.

They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible.

What he wanted, of course, was for me to write as much like he did as I possibly could.

need sth like a hole in the head

need/want sth like a hole in the head

not anything like/near

not like the sound of sth

"There's been a slight change in our plans." "I don't like the sound of that."

I just did not like the sound of this woman.

She did not like the sound of those words he was using.

nothing succeeds like success

Initially nothing succeeds like success: but eventually success exceeds itself, and decline and despondency set in.

rise like a phoenix from the ashes

run around like a headless chicken

The arcade section is hideous, featuring computer-controlled players running around like headless chickens and never attempting a tackle.

run/go/drive etc like the clappers

Little legs going like the clappers .

Male speaker Inside you are going like the clappers because you are nervous and the tension is building up.

run/hurt/fight etc like hell

I know he lost his legs first, and then his fingers-he died alone and it hurt like hell .

I remember running like hell , knowing I was being pursued and looking back for Sarah, who didn't join me.

I was able to breathe only with the utmost difficulty, and my arm hurt like hell .

Must have fought like hell to find its niche within the forest, to distinguish itself within the pack.

My forehead hurt like hell and my body was bruised all over, but no bones were broken.

Run, North, run; just run like hell .

Spring sauntered north, but he had to run like hell to keep it as his traveling companion.

We fought like hell for most of the time.

say what you like

Clearly western painters said what they liked, how they liked.

From now on he could do and say what he liked - they wouldn't raise a squeak.

He could say what he liked, but she was now controlling the agenda.

I can say what I like.

If she just vanishes, Elizabeth Roisin can say what she likes, but there's nothing she can do!

There must, he said , be a place where people are free to say what they like.

We can do what we like and say what we like to whomever we like, without restriction.

While manufacturers say what they like about themselves through advertising, favourable public opinion for their products or services is earned.

sell like hot cakes

smoke like a chimney

She's only thirteen and she already smokes like a chimney .

My granddad, who smoked like a chimney and lived to 97, was lucky enough never to encounter a promoter.

The only sadness was that they all appeared to smoke like chimneys .

something like 100/2,000 etc

Insignia has something like 100 engineers working on its line.

spin like a top

And then the Alouette was spinning like a top and curving off over the Aegean.

Obviously, any knock could send her mind spinning like a top .

sth is (like) a religion

But Cirrito is quick to point out that Rastafarianism is a religion , whereas reggae is a beat.

If there is a theme here, it is religion .

This form of witchcraft is a religion of the earth.

sth is like herding cats

sth is like pulling teeth

Getting the kids to do their homework was like pulling teeth.

stick/stand out like a sore thumb

You can't come to the restaurant dressed in jeans. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.

For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb.

Having a whole batch together should make an odd one stick out like a sore thumb.

Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb.

We stand out like sore thumbs.

You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.

swear like a trooper

Throwing on a dressing-gown and swearing like a trooper , you stumble to answer it.

take a liking to sb/sth

He immediately took a liking to Malden.

Connors had actually taken a liking to me after the incident with the gun.

For some reason she had taken a liking to him.

Fortunately, he had taken a liking to Claudel last year.

He had a fresh, open face, and stars in his eyes, and she took a liking to him at once.

She took a liking to me.

They kept going to this restaurant, and the proprietor took a liking to them.

take to something like a duck to water

She's taken to her new position like a duck to water.

take your medicine (like a man)

Come on, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, take your medicine .

Conradin hated her with all his heart, but he obeyed her quietly and took his medicine without arguing.

He and his grandpa took their medicine together, at the same time.

He hadn't been changed or taken his medicine .

He shut his eyes, held his nose like a kid about to take his medicine , and started to drink.

His major problem is that he misses taking his medicine , and he travels too much.

Like some one recovering from the flu, she quit taking her medicine as soon as she felt better.

Soon after she left the hospital, with a clearer mind, she again stopped taking her medicine .

tell it like it is

But no one can blame Rush for telling it like it is.

He tells it like it is.

I try to tell it like it is.

She tells it like it is, or seems to.

there's nothing like sth

There's nothing like a nice hot bath to help you relax.

And there's nothing like a conversation when you smoke.

Facing page: there's nothing like a brew to soothe aching limbs but where's the Kendal Mint cake?

No, there's nothing like a good laugh to make you feel better about yourself.

Second team or not, however, there's nothing like the first century.

When the weather's good there's nothing like a luxurious dessert to give a special menu a final flourish.

treat sb like shit

Everybody always treats me like shit .

turn up like a bad penny

watch sb like a hawk

Parents should watch their kids like a hawk for sunburns.

And it's putting me off, having you watching me like a hawk all the time.

He seemed to be watching her like a hawk , waiting for some reaction.

Kruger is watching them like a hawk !

They're watching me like hawks here.

Today, more than usual, he had been watching them like a hawk .

what's not to like/love?

work like a Trojan

work like a charm

Our new accounting system works like a charm .

A slap on the hand or the behind works like a charm for one parent-child combination.

But let me first applaud the coupling: it works like a charm .

However, the schmaltzy parts, near the end, work like a charm .

This time, the setup worked like a charm .

work like magic

I first borrowed a bottle from work and it works like magic .

The new layout and office furniture worked like magic .

work like magic/work like a charm

work/run/go like stink

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Like many women her age, she struggled to find a balance between her career and her children.

Fruits like oranges and kiwis have lots of vitamin C.

He moves and talks just like his father.

He stood bolt upright, like a soldier.

Huge trees had snapped like matchsticks in the hurricane-force winds.

I'd love to be able to sing like Ella Fitzgerald.

It's not like Emily to lie.

It looks a bit like a cactus.

Life at college was nothing like I expected.

My mother has a car like yours.

She laughed like a child and played with her hair.

She moves and talks exactly like her mother.

The houses here are like the ones in northern France.

The lamp was round, like a ball.

They were all waving their arms around, like this.

This is such beautiful material - it feels like silk.

This superb almost-flourless chocolate cake is something like a brownie for grownups.

We could cook something easy, like pasta.

We still haven't settled a number of problems, like who is going to be in charge here while I'm away.

You're treating him like a child.

II. verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ NOUN

people

Mr. Needham I am sure that all the people of Belfast would like to thank my hon. Friend for her comments.

Others were more interested in being with people and being liked .

It isn't a subject that most people like to dwell on; it may never even have occurred to you.

People who question Davis' ability to win in court are people who like to wear barrels instead of clothes.

Lots of people don't like him, and some actively loathe him, but try to see the better side.

The reason why people like each other is important.

Few people liked it, most either ignored it or hated it.

There are many people who like to explore the unknown.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(be/feel) like a fish out of water

I felt like a fish out of water.

In his first interview since the move, he still looks like a fish out of water.

(like) rats leaving the sinking ship

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

a voice like a foghorn

anything like sb/sth

Does Brenda look anything like her mother?

be (like) a drug

At 17 he was a drug addict.

Casodex is a drug that blocks the release of testosterone, a hormone that is linked to prostate cancer.

I would have loved a drink, but I thought it might be drugged .

Of those held in federal rather than state prisons, 60 % are drug offenders with no history of violence.

The more complete descriptive term is drug elimination half-life.

The most worrisome cross-border export, however, is drugs .

The robber bridegroom could be a drug pusher in-stead of a homicidal cannibal, for instance.

Tobacco is a drug and addicts should be given a chance to ease off gradually.

be (like) a morgue

be (like) a mother to sb

be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall

be dying/dropping etc like flies

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies , supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies .

The men were dying like flies , of fever.

They should be dropping like flies , but that hasn't been the case.

be like a bear with a sore head

be like gold dust

be of one mind/of the same mind/of like mind

be packed like sardines

We were packed like sardines on the train.

On the other side of the building turtles are packed like sardines into more tanks.

be selling/going like hot cakes

be to sb's liking

I hope everything in the suite was to your liking , sir.

After deciding that a paper looks, feels and smells to your liking , a few other factors should be considered.

Congressional Republicans have made an increase in the debt ceiling contingent on a balanced budget agreement to their liking .

However, with the two medium-sized potatoes and a spoonful of carrots, she found this also quite to her liking .

Joining the group for 12 laps of grassy field surrounding the track, I found their easy pace to my liking .

Need I add that impairment is more to my liking than good health?

She found herself praying that this batch would be more to his liking than the last.

The second half is more to her liking .

This may be to your liking so it is worth experimenting with three, four and five rises.

be/feel like a new man/woman

be/feel/look like your old self

After five months in the hospital, I'm feeling like my old self again.

be/seem/look nothing like sb/sth

Certainly the lateral geniculate nucleus in rats looks nothing like the lateral geniculate nucleus in monkeys.

It's classed as being a conifer but it looks nothing like one.

Remember that the intermediate stored pattern may be pretty abstract, looking nothing like the input pattern.

She insisted that I looked nothing like Majella.

She looked nothing like her photograph.

The problem is that in its juvenile form it looks nothing like the adult specimen.

The zone blitz can fluster an offense because it looks nothing like a conventional blitz.

This suspect looks nothing like Nichols, a slightly built, light-skinned man in his 40s with thinning hair.

come down on sb like a ton of bricks

do sth like the devil

They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil .

He holds me like the devil himself.

Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.

It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil .

Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.

The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.

They scampered off, barking like the devil .

Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.

do sth like there's no tomorrow

Ben drives like there's no tomorrow .

I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow .

drop/go down like ninepins

Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.

feel like/turn to jelly

feel/look like a million bucks

feel/look like hell

He looks like hell and sounds awful, but then, as he's the first to admit, he always did.

In that case I would peak earlier and higher and then feel like hell for the rest of the day.

feel/look like shit

I woke up with a hangover and felt like shit for the rest of the day.

And it used to make me feel like shit to hear that.

Everytime I am about to go to a cup match I imagine myself travelling back home feeling like shit .

Here goes ... I expected to look like shit but this was ridiculous.

I try to think of nice ways to comment on his appearance without saying he looks like shit .

It's a terrible thing to be told that and then to do what the director says and it feels like shit .

The school made you feel like shit .

We really do look like shit .

You looked like shit the other night.

for all the world as if/as though/like

for sb's liking

get on/along like a house on fire

go down like a lead balloon

go/be out like a light

She was out like a light , as soon as we put her in bed.

A minute later he went out like a light .

Either it was the brandy or it was the heat, but she went out like a light .

I went out like a light .

Something hit me on the back of the head, here, and I went out like a light .

go/run like clockwork

A universe that ran like clockwork also evinced design.

And if Lais and Leonore created the promised diversion the plan would go like clockwork .

Sometimes it ran like clockwork , sometimes-as I wrote at the time-it ran like the movie Clockwise.

Then we had been surprised when our ascent of the nearby Jankopiti had gone like clockwork .

Whereas Prost had been delayed as the Ferrari mechanics fiddled with the right-rear wheel, Senna's stop went like clockwork .

have a memory like a sieve

You'd better remind him about the party - he's got a memory like a sieve !

have eyes like a hawk

My mother had eyes like a hawk.

have eyes like a hawk

hit sb like a ton of bricks

The news of her accident hit me like a ton of bricks.

hold/hang on for/like grim death

how about that!/how do you like that!

how you like/want

First decide how you want to set up your directories.

Is this how we want to spend our dotage?

It's how we like to see ourselves.

Live your life how you want.

Oh, how I wanted to win!

Oh, how she wanted him to.

Remember how he wanted us to think he was a good guy at heart?

You try reading this with only one eye and see how you like it.

in/like a flash

The computer can sort and edit a mailing list in a flash .

He also had a nature that went violent in a flash .

If he knew what I wanted he'd be out of the car and away in a flash of shock.

It's all done in a flash these days.

It was over in a flash .

Shelby chooses the green chair for her dad, then like a flash , she's off to the house.

The lesson seemed to pass in a flash .

Two shots, they stop in a flash .

We went by the tower like a flash and landed on the red cross near the newly set-up hospital tent.

like Darby and Joan

like a (hot) knife through butter

Lori seemed to go through men like a knife through butter.

like a bat out of hell

I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital.

They took off like a bat out of hell for Tan Son Nhut.

like a bull at a gate

They may fight like a lion or go at something like a bull at a gate.

like a bull in a china shop

Politically, he often behaved like a bull in a china shop.

You're not going to go storming in there like a bull in a china shop again?

like a cat on hot bricks

like a dog with two tails

like a dose of salts

L.M. True - like a dose of salts!

like a dream

The new car drives like a dream .

But elsewhere Dream Stuff does not soothe.Life is like a dream because it is beyond control.

He kept talking about it, like a dream .

It is like a dream come true.

Others, like dreams of fame or wealth, are egocentric.

Some, like dreams of providing a great service, are altruistic.

These tiresome but, one hopes, isolated problems aside, our Metro 1.1S is still running like a dream .

Those few short months with Tony seemed sometimes like a dream to her.

like a lamb

Suzie went off to school like a lamb today.

He felt he had taken his only child like a lamb to the slaughter.

I certainly don't like lamb for three meals running.

March, according to the weather proverb, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb .

While others were being lionised he conducted himself like a lamb or even a mouse.

like a lamb to the slaughter

like a mother hen

like a rabbit/deer caught in headlights

like a red rag to a bull

Naturally this was like a red rag to a bull and I refused to even consider such a course of action.

like a shot

She slammed the phone down and was out of the room like a shot .

He asked Jeter if he'd like a shot at it.

I'd tell you like a shot if we ever got into a real jam.

It is not a direct stimulant, like a shot of adrenaline.

She'd be off to Legoland like a shot , to see that caretaker, if Henry said anything.

Sometimes they fall over one another, like shots from a rapid-fire camera.

The great majority, once they breach the system and hear the telltale whine, are out of there like a shot .

Travis had left the door open - she seized her chance, and was through it like a shot .

like an oven

I wish they'd turn off the heat. It's like an oven in here.

It's like an oven in here. Let's open some windows.

The heat of the day made the gymnasium feel like an oven .

Makes it like an oven , spoiling the negatives.

The room is like an oven already.

like anything

Tom only left last week and I already miss him like anything .

But like anything else worthy of our attention, it takes a little educating.

I mean, eight singles hardly seems like anything at all.

If it was like anything , thought Henry, it was probably like the art of eating out.

It may not be perfect, and it may not even be like anything we have seen before.

Somewhat softened by wind erosion, the surface none the less looked more like the lunar highlands than like anything on Earth.

The interior is nothing like anything I've seen before.

They would probably worry like anything .

To intense, hardworking young Taylor, the practice could scarcely have seemed like anything but the most shameless sloth.

like blazes

We're going to have to work like blazes to win this time!

You could lean into the wind and it was raining like blazes .

like clockwork

At 6:30 every evening, like clockwork , Ari went out to milk the cows.

The charity event was well organized and ran like clockwork .

like crazy

These mosquito bites on my leg are itching like crazy .

We ran like crazy to the bus stop.

like father like son

like fun

"I'm going to Barbara's house." "Like fun you are! Come and finish your chores first."

like fury

like gangbusters

Fraser's historical novels are selling like gangbusters .

like getting blood out of a stone

like hell/the hell

like it's going out of fashion

She's been spending money like it's going out of fashion .

like lightning

Her foot slipped on the smooth tiles but Mitch moved like lightning and caught her before she fell.

Somewhere a dog barked and, like lightning , the cat darted into some bushes.

The cat ran up the tree like lightning .

like looking for a needle in a haystack

like mad

like magic/as if by magic

like new/as good as new

like nobody's business

People are buying Internet stocks like nobody's business.

like sheep

like so

Then turn the paper over and fold it, like so .

like the cat that got the cream

like the wind

A light wind ruffled the leaves of the trees, but it was warm, not cold like the winds of winter.

Cos it looks like the wind blew her face inside out.

He swept towards me, like the wind raising a storm as soaring eagles raise dust.

Something was sweeping through that massive arena like the wind moving through the top of the trees.

The boy was driving like the wind when suddenly we hit something.

We rode like the wind and by ten o'clock had come to the edge of the forest of Zenda.

Will and I ran like the wind and only stopped when we reached the river.

like two peas in a pod

like water

like water off a duck's back

like weeds

Aerials sprout up like weeds on the roof.

Cars were suffocating the roads like weeds .

Flavor-of-the-month or program-du-jour comments crop up like weeds .

Still, development had sprung up around the edges, like weeds encroaching on a garden.

The eggplants flourished, and the next spring more of them popped up all over the garden like weeds .

liking for sb/sth

She'd tried to hide her liking for him.

look like a drowned rat

Out in the field, we looked like a bunch of drowned rats .

You were looking like a drowned rat after our little foray into Puddephat's rooms.

look like sth the cat dragged/brought in

look/feel etc like nothing on earth

look/feel like a million dollars/bucks

I felt like a million dollars.

look/feel like death warmed up

much like sth/much as

Based on one of Aesop's fables, it was as much like a limerick as one of Shakespeare's sonnets.

For at school, the young man would be surrounded by men much like him-self.

The space inside looked as much like a junkyard as the space outside.

They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible.

What he wanted, of course, was for me to write as much like he did as I possibly could.

need/want sth like a hole in the head

not anything like/near

not like the sound of sth

"There's been a slight change in our plans." "I don't like the sound of that."

I just did not like the sound of this woman.

She did not like the sound of those words he was using.

rise like a phoenix from the ashes

run around like a headless chicken

The arcade section is hideous, featuring computer-controlled players running around like headless chickens and never attempting a tackle.

run/go/drive etc like the clappers

Little legs going like the clappers .

Male speaker Inside you are going like the clappers because you are nervous and the tension is building up.

run/hurt/fight etc like hell

I know he lost his legs first, and then his fingers-he died alone and it hurt like hell .

I remember running like hell , knowing I was being pursued and looking back for Sarah, who didn't join me.

I was able to breathe only with the utmost difficulty, and my arm hurt like hell .

Must have fought like hell to find its niche within the forest, to distinguish itself within the pack.

My forehead hurt like hell and my body was bruised all over, but no bones were broken.

Run, North, run; just run like hell .

Spring sauntered north, but he had to run like hell to keep it as his traveling companion.

We fought like hell for most of the time.

smoke like a chimney

She's only thirteen and she already smokes like a chimney .

My granddad, who smoked like a chimney and lived to 97, was lucky enough never to encounter a promoter.

The only sadness was that they all appeared to smoke like chimneys .

something like 100/2,000 etc

Insignia has something like 100 engineers working on its line.

spin like a top

And then the Alouette was spinning like a top and curving off over the Aegean.

Obviously, any knock could send her mind spinning like a top .

sth is (like) a religion

But Cirrito is quick to point out that Rastafarianism is a religion , whereas reggae is a beat.

If there is a theme here, it is religion .

This form of witchcraft is a religion of the earth.

stick/stand out like a sore thumb

You can't come to the restaurant dressed in jeans. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.

For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb.

Having a whole batch together should make an odd one stick out like a sore thumb.

Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb.

We stand out like sore thumbs.

You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.

swear like a trooper

Throwing on a dressing-gown and swearing like a trooper , you stumble to answer it.

take a liking to sb/sth

He immediately took a liking to Malden.

Connors had actually taken a liking to me after the incident with the gun.

For some reason she had taken a liking to him.

Fortunately, he had taken a liking to Claudel last year.

He had a fresh, open face, and stars in his eyes, and she took a liking to him at once.

She took a liking to me.

They kept going to this restaurant, and the proprietor took a liking to them.

take to something like a duck to water

She's taken to her new position like a duck to water.

take your medicine (like a man)

Come on, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, take your medicine .

Conradin hated her with all his heart, but he obeyed her quietly and took his medicine without arguing.

He and his grandpa took their medicine together, at the same time.

He hadn't been changed or taken his medicine .

He shut his eyes, held his nose like a kid about to take his medicine , and started to drink.

His major problem is that he misses taking his medicine , and he travels too much.

Like some one recovering from the flu, she quit taking her medicine as soon as she felt better.

Soon after she left the hospital, with a clearer mind, she again stopped taking her medicine .

there's nothing like sth

There's nothing like a nice hot bath to help you relax.

And there's nothing like a conversation when you smoke.

Facing page: there's nothing like a brew to soothe aching limbs but where's the Kendal Mint cake?

No, there's nothing like a good laugh to make you feel better about yourself.

Second team or not, however, there's nothing like the first century.

When the weather's good there's nothing like a luxurious dessert to give a special menu a final flourish.

treat sb like shit

Everybody always treats me like shit .

turn up like a bad penny

watch sb like a hawk

Parents should watch their kids like a hawk for sunburns.

And it's putting me off, having you watching me like a hawk all the time.

He seemed to be watching her like a hawk , waiting for some reaction.

Kruger is watching them like a hawk !

They're watching me like hawks here.

Today, more than usual, he had been watching them like a hawk .

what's not to like/love?

work like a Trojan

work like a charm

Our new accounting system works like a charm .

A slap on the hand or the behind works like a charm for one parent-child combination.

But let me first applaud the coupling: it works like a charm .

However, the schmaltzy parts, near the end, work like a charm .

This time, the setup worked like a charm .

work like magic

I first borrowed a bottle from work and it works like magic .

The new layout and office furniture worked like magic .

work/run/go like stink

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Do you like spaghetti?

Everybody liked Mr. Schofield, but he wasn't a very good teacher.

How do you like your steak cooked?

I've always liked Sally - she's a lot of fun.

I like the way she interacts with children.

I like to put lots of ketchup on my fries.

I like your dress - it's a beautiful colour.

I like your new car.

I liked her, but I was afraid to ask her to go out with me.

I don't like meetings, especially if they go on for too long.

I don't think Professor Riker likes me.

I never really like her - she was always a bit stuck-up and condescending.

I think Roy likes living alone.

My daughter doesn't like lima beans.

Nick likes to relax and read a book in the evenings.

We liked living abroad. It was a wonderful experience.

What did you like about the movie?

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

He doesn't like gossip, our Jack.

I'd really like some breakfast.

I should like to call again soon to take a drive to some other point in the country.

In accepting both what I like and don't like in her, I can more readily accept both aspects in myself.

Mixed in with most of the words in Englishand very likely every other language-is some taint of liking or disliking.

More worried now than she liked to admit, Piper extended her search for the Base Administrator to the refectory.

So you can hate them, or like them, or love them.

You have your friends; the faculty likes you; you play on teams.

III. noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ VERB

feel

But it has started to feel like I am being rude and ungrateful, dO you understand?

Which is why I feel like I sort of owe him this.

You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(be/feel) like a fish out of water

I felt like a fish out of water.

In his first interview since the move, he still looks like a fish out of water.

(like) rats leaving the sinking ship

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

anything like sb/sth

Does Brenda look anything like her mother?

as if/as though/like you own the place

be (like) a drug

At 17 he was a drug addict.

Casodex is a drug that blocks the release of testosterone, a hormone that is linked to prostate cancer.

I would have loved a drink, but I thought it might be drugged .

Of those held in federal rather than state prisons, 60 % are drug offenders with no history of violence.

The more complete descriptive term is drug elimination half-life.

The most worrisome cross-border export, however, is drugs .

The robber bridegroom could be a drug pusher in-stead of a homicidal cannibal, for instance.

Tobacco is a drug and addicts should be given a chance to ease off gradually.

be (like) a morgue

be (like) a mother to sb

be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall

be dropping like flies

Players from both teams are dropping like flies.

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies, supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies.

They should be dropping like flies, but that hasn't been the case.

be dying/dropping etc like flies

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies , supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies .

The men were dying like flies , of fever.

They should be dropping like flies , but that hasn't been the case.

be like talking to a brick wall

be of one mind/of the same mind/of like mind

be packed like sardines

We were packed like sardines on the train.

On the other side of the building turtles are packed like sardines into more tanks.

be selling/going like hot cakes

be/feel like a new man/woman

be/feel/look like your old self

After five months in the hospital, I'm feeling like my old self again.

be/seem/look nothing like sb/sth

Certainly the lateral geniculate nucleus in rats looks nothing like the lateral geniculate nucleus in monkeys.

It's classed as being a conifer but it looks nothing like one.

Remember that the intermediate stored pattern may be pretty abstract, looking nothing like the input pattern.

She insisted that I looked nothing like Majella.

She looked nothing like her photograph.

The problem is that in its juvenile form it looks nothing like the adult specimen.

The zone blitz can fluster an offense because it looks nothing like a conventional blitz.

This suspect looks nothing like Nichols, a slightly built, light-skinned man in his 40s with thinning hair.

can read sb like a book

I can read you like a book - some book I've read six times already.

come down on sb like a ton of bricks

do sth like there's no tomorrow

Ben drives like there's no tomorrow .

I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow .

drop/go down like ninepins

Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.

feel like (doing) sth

I just don't feel like doing anything tonight.

Joe says he feels like Mexican food.

But the whole thing feels like a retread.&.

He feels like the captain of a sleeping ship, alone at the helm, steering his oblivious crew through dangerous seas.

I hang up, feeling like a wind-up toy.

She felt like screaming at him, but she was determined not to lose her self-control.

The careful procession into the Hall had felt like a kind of funeral.

They stepped forward, and his muscles stiffened until they felt like bone.

You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.

feel like/turn to jelly

feel/look like hell

He looks like hell and sounds awful, but then, as he's the first to admit, he always did.

In that case I would peak earlier and higher and then feel like hell for the rest of the day.

feel/look like shit

I woke up with a hangover and felt like shit for the rest of the day.

And it used to make me feel like shit to hear that.

Everytime I am about to go to a cup match I imagine myself travelling back home feeling like shit .

Here goes ... I expected to look like shit but this was ridiculous.

I try to think of nice ways to comment on his appearance without saying he looks like shit .

It's a terrible thing to be told that and then to do what the director says and it feels like shit .

The school made you feel like shit .

We really do look like shit .

You looked like shit the other night.

fight like cat and dog

for all the world as if/as though/like

get to like/know/understand sb/sth

All I had to do was got to know his taste in food.

Come to think of it, he'd seemed rather a decent chap, some one it might be worth getting to know.

He got to know Bill Clinton quite well when they were together at Oxford as Rhodes scholars.

I would like to get to know customers well 8.

It was one of Brian's three daughters, Karen, who got to know Kirsty.

Mrs Nowak and Taczek must have got to know most of the truth and stuck by the cover story.

She had seen a leaflet about the YCs and thought that this would provide a good way of getting to know people.

So I got , I sort of got to know her.

go/run like clockwork

A universe that ran like clockwork also evinced design.

And if Lais and Leonore created the promised diversion the plan would go like clockwork .

Sometimes it ran like clockwork , sometimes-as I wrote at the time-it ran like the movie Clockwise.

Then we had been surprised when our ascent of the nearby Jankopiti had gone like clockwork .

Whereas Prost had been delayed as the Ferrari mechanics fiddled with the right-rear wheel, Senna's stop went like clockwork .

hit sb like a ton of bricks

The news of her accident hit me like a ton of bricks.

hold/hang on for/like grim death

how about that!/how do you like that!

how you like/want

First decide how you want to set up your directories.

Is this how we want to spend our dotage?

It's how we like to see ourselves.

Live your life how you want.

Oh, how I wanted to win!

Oh, how she wanted him to.

Remember how he wanted us to think he was a good guy at heart?

You try reading this with only one eye and see how you like it.

like Darby and Joan

like a bat out of hell

I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital.

They took off like a bat out of hell for Tan Son Nhut.

like a dose of salts

L.M. True - like a dose of salts!

like a red rag to a bull

Naturally this was like a red rag to a bull and I refused to even consider such a course of action.

like anything

Tom only left last week and I already miss him like anything .

But like anything else worthy of our attention, it takes a little educating.

I mean, eight singles hardly seems like anything at all.

If it was like anything , thought Henry, it was probably like the art of eating out.

It may not be perfect, and it may not even be like anything we have seen before.

Somewhat softened by wind erosion, the surface none the less looked more like the lunar highlands than like anything on Earth.

The interior is nothing like anything I've seen before.

They would probably worry like anything .

To intense, hardworking young Taylor, the practice could scarcely have seemed like anything but the most shameless sloth.

like blazes

We're going to have to work like blazes to win this time!

You could lean into the wind and it was raining like blazes .

like clockwork

At 6:30 every evening, like clockwork , Ari went out to milk the cows.

The charity event was well organized and ran like clockwork .

like crazy

These mosquito bites on my leg are itching like crazy .

We ran like crazy to the bus stop.

like father like son

like fun

"I'm going to Barbara's house." "Like fun you are! Come and finish your chores first."

like fury

like gangbusters

Fraser's historical novels are selling like gangbusters .

like getting blood out of a stone

like greased lightning

They expect the bill to move through Congress like greased lightning.

The following passage exemplifies, for Rees, macho characteristics: Clogger moved like greased lightning.

like hell/the hell

like it's going out of fashion

She's been spending money like it's going out of fashion .

like lightning

Her foot slipped on the smooth tiles but Mitch moved like lightning and caught her before she fell.

Somewhere a dog barked and, like lightning , the cat darted into some bushes.

The cat ran up the tree like lightning .

like looking for a needle in a haystack

like mad

like magic/as if by magic

like new/as good as new

like nobody's business

People are buying Internet stocks like nobody's business.

like sheep

like so

Then turn the paper over and fold it, like so .

like two peas in a pod

like water

like water off a duck's back

like weeds

Aerials sprout up like weeds on the roof.

Cars were suffocating the roads like weeds .

Flavor-of-the-month or program-du-jour comments crop up like weeds .

Still, development had sprung up around the edges, like weeds encroaching on a garden.

The eggplants flourished, and the next spring more of them popped up all over the garden like weeds .

look like sth the cat dragged/brought in

look/feel etc like nothing on earth

look/feel like a million dollars/bucks

I felt like a million dollars.

look/feel like death warmed up

make like

make out like a bandit

Insurance companies always make out like bandits.

Salomon Brothers and my customer made out like bandits.

much like sth/much as

Based on one of Aesop's fables, it was as much like a limerick as one of Shakespeare's sonnets.

For at school, the young man would be surrounded by men much like him-self.

The space inside looked as much like a junkyard as the space outside.

They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible.

What he wanted, of course, was for me to write as much like he did as I possibly could.

need sth like a hole in the head

not anything like/near

not like the sound of sth

"There's been a slight change in our plans." "I don't like the sound of that."

I just did not like the sound of this woman.

She did not like the sound of those words he was using.

nothing succeeds like success

Initially nothing succeeds like success: but eventually success exceeds itself, and decline and despondency set in.

run around like a headless chicken

The arcade section is hideous, featuring computer-controlled players running around like headless chickens and never attempting a tackle.

run/hurt/fight etc like hell

I know he lost his legs first, and then his fingers-he died alone and it hurt like hell .

I remember running like hell , knowing I was being pursued and looking back for Sarah, who didn't join me.

I was able to breathe only with the utmost difficulty, and my arm hurt like hell .

Must have fought like hell to find its niche within the forest, to distinguish itself within the pack.

My forehead hurt like hell and my body was bruised all over, but no bones were broken.

Run, North, run; just run like hell .

Spring sauntered north, but he had to run like hell to keep it as his traveling companion.

We fought like hell for most of the time.

say what you like

Clearly western painters said what they liked, how they liked.

From now on he could do and say what he liked - they wouldn't raise a squeak.

He could say what he liked, but she was now controlling the agenda.

I can say what I like.

If she just vanishes, Elizabeth Roisin can say what she likes, but there's nothing she can do!

There must, he said , be a place where people are free to say what they like.

We can do what we like and say what we like to whomever we like, without restriction.

While manufacturers say what they like about themselves through advertising, favourable public opinion for their products or services is earned.

sell like hot cakes

something like 100/2,000 etc

Insignia has something like 100 engineers working on its line.

sth is (like) a religion

But Cirrito is quick to point out that Rastafarianism is a religion , whereas reggae is a beat.

If there is a theme here, it is religion .

This form of witchcraft is a religion of the earth.

sth is like herding cats

sth is like pulling teeth

Getting the kids to do their homework was like pulling teeth.

stick/stand out like a sore thumb

You can't come to the restaurant dressed in jeans. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.

For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb.

Having a whole batch together should make an odd one stick out like a sore thumb.

Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb.

We stand out like sore thumbs.

You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.

tell it like it is

But no one can blame Rush for telling it like it is.

He tells it like it is.

I try to tell it like it is.

She tells it like it is, or seems to.

there's nothing like sth

There's nothing like a nice hot bath to help you relax.

And there's nothing like a conversation when you smoke.

Facing page: there's nothing like a brew to soothe aching limbs but where's the Kendal Mint cake?

No, there's nothing like a good laugh to make you feel better about yourself.

Second team or not, however, there's nothing like the first century.

When the weather's good there's nothing like a luxurious dessert to give a special menu a final flourish.

treat sb like shit

Everybody always treats me like shit .

what's not to like/love?

work like magic

I first borrowed a bottle from work and it works like magic .

The new layout and office furniture worked like magic .

work like magic/work like a charm

work/run/go like stink

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Beyond the talk of coalitions, alphabetic organizations, and the like , there are at length real people.

Despite the expensive-looking Baroque decor and the pianist, this place serves cheap pizzas and the like .

IV. adverb

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Do you think you could, like , not tell anyone what happened?

It was like 9 o'clock when I got home.

That is a scary intersection. Like yesterday I saw two cars go straight through a red light.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Like by, like by the seven eleven.

It was like this is this is the look of puzzlement.

V. conjunction

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

He acted like he owned the place.

I don't want him treating me like Jim treated me.

VI. adjective

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ NOUN

manner

Little attempt is made to treat like situations in a like manner or to act consistently within a framework of judicial analysis.

Her own four daughters held their dolls in a like manner when they first began to play with them.

The other four domes are supported in a like manner and short barrel vaults connect one dome to another.

In like manner the suffrage of women prior to 1918 was a claimed moral right.

And in like manner buyers will fence, and pretend to be less eager than they really are.

In like manner , but without the risk, Bloomsbury chipped away at the standards inherited from Victorians.

mind

A belief in criticism was an affirmation to be made in earnest assemblies of like minds .

We found women of like mind .

The people of the village are of like mind . 5.

The Vicosinos were of like mind and thus Supported the project to purchase the land and liberate these families from serfdom.

She says that it's the bringing together of like minds .

When it comes to minding their own business, Montanans are of a like mind.

Michael came to mountaineering through its literature and found some one of a like mind who was also keen to start.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(be/feel) like a fish out of water

I felt like a fish out of water.

In his first interview since the move, he still looks like a fish out of water.

(like) rats leaving the sinking ship

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

a voice like a foghorn

anything like sb/sth

Does Brenda look anything like her mother?

as if/as though/like you own the place

be (like) a drug

At 17 he was a drug addict.

Casodex is a drug that blocks the release of testosterone, a hormone that is linked to prostate cancer.

I would have loved a drink, but I thought it might be drugged .

Of those held in federal rather than state prisons, 60 % are drug offenders with no history of violence.

The more complete descriptive term is drug elimination half-life.

The most worrisome cross-border export, however, is drugs .

The robber bridegroom could be a drug pusher in-stead of a homicidal cannibal, for instance.

Tobacco is a drug and addicts should be given a chance to ease off gradually.

be (like) a morgue

be (like) a mother to sb

be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall

be dropping like flies

Players from both teams are dropping like flies.

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies, supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies.

They should be dropping like flies, but that hasn't been the case.

be dying/dropping etc like flies

Grocer profits While other retailers are dropping like flies , supermarkets are making fat profits.

Our kids are dropping like flies .

The men were dying like flies , of fever.

They should be dropping like flies , but that hasn't been the case.

be like a bear with a sore head

be like gold dust

be like talking to a brick wall

be of one mind/of the same mind/of like mind

be packed like sardines

We were packed like sardines on the train.

On the other side of the building turtles are packed like sardines into more tanks.

be selling/going like hot cakes

be to sb's liking

I hope everything in the suite was to your liking , sir.

After deciding that a paper looks, feels and smells to your liking , a few other factors should be considered.

Congressional Republicans have made an increase in the debt ceiling contingent on a balanced budget agreement to their liking .

However, with the two medium-sized potatoes and a spoonful of carrots, she found this also quite to her liking .

Joining the group for 12 laps of grassy field surrounding the track, I found their easy pace to my liking .

Need I add that impairment is more to my liking than good health?

She found herself praying that this batch would be more to his liking than the last.

The second half is more to her liking .

This may be to your liking so it is worth experimenting with three, four and five rises.

be/seem/look nothing like sb/sth

Certainly the lateral geniculate nucleus in rats looks nothing like the lateral geniculate nucleus in monkeys.

It's classed as being a conifer but it looks nothing like one.

Remember that the intermediate stored pattern may be pretty abstract, looking nothing like the input pattern.

She insisted that I looked nothing like Majella.

She looked nothing like her photograph.

The problem is that in its juvenile form it looks nothing like the adult specimen.

The zone blitz can fluster an offense because it looks nothing like a conventional blitz.

This suspect looks nothing like Nichols, a slightly built, light-skinned man in his 40s with thinning hair.

can read sb like a book

I can read you like a book - some book I've read six times already.

come down on sb like a ton of bricks

do sth like the devil

They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil .

He holds me like the devil himself.

Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.

It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil .

Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.

The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.

They scampered off, barking like the devil .

Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.

do sth like there's no tomorrow

Ben drives like there's no tomorrow .

I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow .

drop/go down like ninepins

Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.

feel like (doing) sth

I just don't feel like doing anything tonight.

Joe says he feels like Mexican food.

But the whole thing feels like a retread.&.

He feels like the captain of a sleeping ship, alone at the helm, steering his oblivious crew through dangerous seas.

I hang up, feeling like a wind-up toy.

She felt like screaming at him, but she was determined not to lose her self-control.

The careful procession into the Hall had felt like a kind of funeral.

They stepped forward, and his muscles stiffened until they felt like bone.

You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.

feel like/turn to jelly

feel/look like a million bucks

feel/look like hell

He looks like hell and sounds awful, but then, as he's the first to admit, he always did.

In that case I would peak earlier and higher and then feel like hell for the rest of the day.

feel/look like shit

I woke up with a hangover and felt like shit for the rest of the day.

And it used to make me feel like shit to hear that.

Everytime I am about to go to a cup match I imagine myself travelling back home feeling like shit .

Here goes ... I expected to look like shit but this was ridiculous.

I try to think of nice ways to comment on his appearance without saying he looks like shit .

It's a terrible thing to be told that and then to do what the director says and it feels like shit .

The school made you feel like shit .

We really do look like shit .

You looked like shit the other night.

fight like cat and dog

for all the world as if/as though/like

for sb's liking

get on/along like a house on fire

get to like/know/understand sb/sth

All I had to do was got to know his taste in food.

Come to think of it, he'd seemed rather a decent chap, some one it might be worth getting to know.

He got to know Bill Clinton quite well when they were together at Oxford as Rhodes scholars.

I would like to get to know customers well 8.

It was one of Brian's three daughters, Karen, who got to know Kirsty.

Mrs Nowak and Taczek must have got to know most of the truth and stuck by the cover story.

She had seen a leaflet about the YCs and thought that this would provide a good way of getting to know people.

So I got , I sort of got to know her.

go down like a lead balloon

go/be out like a light

She was out like a light , as soon as we put her in bed.

A minute later he went out like a light .

Either it was the brandy or it was the heat, but she went out like a light .

I went out like a light .

Something hit me on the back of the head, here, and I went out like a light .

go/run like clockwork

A universe that ran like clockwork also evinced design.

And if Lais and Leonore created the promised diversion the plan would go like clockwork .

Sometimes it ran like clockwork , sometimes-as I wrote at the time-it ran like the movie Clockwise.

Then we had been surprised when our ascent of the nearby Jankopiti had gone like clockwork .

Whereas Prost had been delayed as the Ferrari mechanics fiddled with the right-rear wheel, Senna's stop went like clockwork .

have a memory like a sieve

You'd better remind him about the party - he's got a memory like a sieve !

have eyes like a hawk

My mother had eyes like a hawk.

have eyes like a hawk

hit sb like a ton of bricks

The news of her accident hit me like a ton of bricks.

how about that!/how do you like that!

how you like/want

First decide how you want to set up your directories.

Is this how we want to spend our dotage?

It's how we like to see ourselves.

Live your life how you want.

Oh, how I wanted to win!

Oh, how she wanted him to.

Remember how he wanted us to think he was a good guy at heart?

You try reading this with only one eye and see how you like it.

in/like a flash

The computer can sort and edit a mailing list in a flash .

He also had a nature that went violent in a flash .

If he knew what I wanted he'd be out of the car and away in a flash of shock.

It's all done in a flash these days.

It was over in a flash .

Shelby chooses the green chair for her dad, then like a flash , she's off to the house.

The lesson seemed to pass in a flash .

Two shots, they stop in a flash .

We went by the tower like a flash and landed on the red cross near the newly set-up hospital tent.

like Darby and Joan

like a (hot) knife through butter

Lori seemed to go through men like a knife through butter.

like a bat out of hell

I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital.

They took off like a bat out of hell for Tan Son Nhut.

like a bull at a gate

They may fight like a lion or go at something like a bull at a gate.

like a bull in a china shop

Politically, he often behaved like a bull in a china shop.

You're not going to go storming in there like a bull in a china shop again?

like a cat on hot bricks

like a dog with two tails

like a dose of salts

L.M. True - like a dose of salts!

like a dream

The new car drives like a dream .

But elsewhere Dream Stuff does not soothe.Life is like a dream because it is beyond control.

He kept talking about it, like a dream .

It is like a dream come true.

Others, like dreams of fame or wealth, are egocentric.

Some, like dreams of providing a great service, are altruistic.

These tiresome but, one hopes, isolated problems aside, our Metro 1.1S is still running like a dream .

Those few short months with Tony seemed sometimes like a dream to her.

like a lamb

Suzie went off to school like a lamb today.

He felt he had taken his only child like a lamb to the slaughter.

I certainly don't like lamb for three meals running.

March, according to the weather proverb, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb .

While others were being lionised he conducted himself like a lamb or even a mouse.

like a lamb to the slaughter

like a mother hen

like a rabbit/deer caught in headlights

like a shot

She slammed the phone down and was out of the room like a shot .

He asked Jeter if he'd like a shot at it.

I'd tell you like a shot if we ever got into a real jam.

It is not a direct stimulant, like a shot of adrenaline.

She'd be off to Legoland like a shot , to see that caretaker, if Henry said anything.

Sometimes they fall over one another, like shots from a rapid-fire camera.

The great majority, once they breach the system and hear the telltale whine, are out of there like a shot .

Travis had left the door open - she seized her chance, and was through it like a shot .

like an oven

I wish they'd turn off the heat. It's like an oven in here.

It's like an oven in here. Let's open some windows.

The heat of the day made the gymnasium feel like an oven .

Makes it like an oven , spoiling the negatives.

The room is like an oven already.

like anything

Tom only left last week and I already miss him like anything .

But like anything else worthy of our attention, it takes a little educating.

I mean, eight singles hardly seems like anything at all.

If it was like anything , thought Henry, it was probably like the art of eating out.

It may not be perfect, and it may not even be like anything we have seen before.

Somewhat softened by wind erosion, the surface none the less looked more like the lunar highlands than like anything on Earth.

The interior is nothing like anything I've seen before.

They would probably worry like anything .

To intense, hardworking young Taylor, the practice could scarcely have seemed like anything but the most shameless sloth.

like blazes

We're going to have to work like blazes to win this time!

You could lean into the wind and it was raining like blazes .

like clockwork

At 6:30 every evening, like clockwork , Ari went out to milk the cows.

The charity event was well organized and ran like clockwork .

like father like son

like fun

"I'm going to Barbara's house." "Like fun you are! Come and finish your chores first."

like fury

like gangbusters

Fraser's historical novels are selling like gangbusters .

like getting blood out of a stone

like greased lightning

They expect the bill to move through Congress like greased lightning.

The following passage exemplifies, for Rees, macho characteristics: Clogger moved like greased lightning.

like hell/the hell

like it's going out of fashion

She's been spending money like it's going out of fashion .

like lightning

Her foot slipped on the smooth tiles but Mitch moved like lightning and caught her before she fell.

Somewhere a dog barked and, like lightning , the cat darted into some bushes.

The cat ran up the tree like lightning .

like looking for a needle in a haystack

like magic/as if by magic

like nobody's business

People are buying Internet stocks like nobody's business.

like sheep

like so

Then turn the paper over and fold it, like so .

like the cat that got the cream

like the wind

A light wind ruffled the leaves of the trees, but it was warm, not cold like the winds of winter.

Cos it looks like the wind blew her face inside out.

He swept towards me, like the wind raising a storm as soaring eagles raise dust.

Something was sweeping through that massive arena like the wind moving through the top of the trees.

The boy was driving like the wind when suddenly we hit something.

We rode like the wind and by ten o'clock had come to the edge of the forest of Zenda.

Will and I ran like the wind and only stopped when we reached the river.

like two peas in a pod

like water

like water off a duck's back

like weeds

Aerials sprout up like weeds on the roof.

Cars were suffocating the roads like weeds .

Flavor-of-the-month or program-du-jour comments crop up like weeds .

Still, development had sprung up around the edges, like weeds encroaching on a garden.

The eggplants flourished, and the next spring more of them popped up all over the garden like weeds .

liking for sb/sth

She'd tried to hide her liking for him.

look like a drowned rat

Out in the field, we looked like a bunch of drowned rats .

You were looking like a drowned rat after our little foray into Puddephat's rooms.

look like sth the cat dragged/brought in

look/feel etc like nothing on earth

look/feel like a million dollars/bucks

I felt like a million dollars.

look/feel like death warmed up

make like

make out like a bandit

Insurance companies always make out like bandits.

Salomon Brothers and my customer made out like bandits.

much like sth/much as

Based on one of Aesop's fables, it was as much like a limerick as one of Shakespeare's sonnets.

For at school, the young man would be surrounded by men much like him-self.

The space inside looked as much like a junkyard as the space outside.

They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible.

What he wanted, of course, was for me to write as much like he did as I possibly could.

need sth like a hole in the head

need/want sth like a hole in the head

not anything like/near

not like the sound of sth

"There's been a slight change in our plans." "I don't like the sound of that."

I just did not like the sound of this woman.

She did not like the sound of those words he was using.

nothing succeeds like success

Initially nothing succeeds like success: but eventually success exceeds itself, and decline and despondency set in.

rise like a phoenix from the ashes

run/go/drive etc like the clappers

Little legs going like the clappers .

Male speaker Inside you are going like the clappers because you are nervous and the tension is building up.

run/hurt/fight etc like hell

I know he lost his legs first, and then his fingers-he died alone and it hurt like hell .

I remember running like hell , knowing I was being pursued and looking back for Sarah, who didn't join me.

I was able to breathe only with the utmost difficulty, and my arm hurt like hell .

Must have fought like hell to find its niche within the forest, to distinguish itself within the pack.

My forehead hurt like hell and my body was bruised all over, but no bones were broken.

Run, North, run; just run like hell .

Spring sauntered north, but he had to run like hell to keep it as his traveling companion.

We fought like hell for most of the time.

say what you like

Clearly western painters said what they liked, how they liked.

From now on he could do and say what he liked - they wouldn't raise a squeak.

He could say what he liked, but she was now controlling the agenda.

I can say what I like.

If she just vanishes, Elizabeth Roisin can say what she likes, but there's nothing she can do!

There must, he said , be a place where people are free to say what they like.

We can do what we like and say what we like to whomever we like, without restriction.

While manufacturers say what they like about themselves through advertising, favourable public opinion for their products or services is earned.

sell like hot cakes

smoke like a chimney

She's only thirteen and she already smokes like a chimney .

My granddad, who smoked like a chimney and lived to 97, was lucky enough never to encounter a promoter.

The only sadness was that they all appeared to smoke like chimneys .

something like 100/2,000 etc

Insignia has something like 100 engineers working on its line.

spin like a top

And then the Alouette was spinning like a top and curving off over the Aegean.

Obviously, any knock could send her mind spinning like a top .

sth is (like) a religion

But Cirrito is quick to point out that Rastafarianism is a religion , whereas reggae is a beat.

If there is a theme here, it is religion .

This form of witchcraft is a religion of the earth.

sth is like herding cats

sth is like pulling teeth

Getting the kids to do their homework was like pulling teeth.

swear like a trooper

Throwing on a dressing-gown and swearing like a trooper , you stumble to answer it.

take a liking to sb/sth

He immediately took a liking to Malden.

Connors had actually taken a liking to me after the incident with the gun.

For some reason she had taken a liking to him.

Fortunately, he had taken a liking to Claudel last year.

He had a fresh, open face, and stars in his eyes, and she took a liking to him at once.

She took a liking to me.

They kept going to this restaurant, and the proprietor took a liking to them.

take to something like a duck to water

She's taken to her new position like a duck to water.

take your medicine (like a man)

Come on, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, take your medicine .

Conradin hated her with all his heart, but he obeyed her quietly and took his medicine without arguing.

He and his grandpa took their medicine together, at the same time.

He hadn't been changed or taken his medicine .

He shut his eyes, held his nose like a kid about to take his medicine , and started to drink.

His major problem is that he misses taking his medicine , and he travels too much.

Like some one recovering from the flu, she quit taking her medicine as soon as she felt better.

Soon after she left the hospital, with a clearer mind, she again stopped taking her medicine .

tell it like it is

But no one can blame Rush for telling it like it is.

He tells it like it is.

I try to tell it like it is.

She tells it like it is, or seems to.

there's nothing like sth

There's nothing like a nice hot bath to help you relax.

And there's nothing like a conversation when you smoke.

Facing page: there's nothing like a brew to soothe aching limbs but where's the Kendal Mint cake?

No, there's nothing like a good laugh to make you feel better about yourself.

Second team or not, however, there's nothing like the first century.

When the weather's good there's nothing like a luxurious dessert to give a special menu a final flourish.

treat sb like shit

Everybody always treats me like shit .

turn up like a bad penny

watch sb like a hawk

Parents should watch their kids like a hawk for sunburns.

And it's putting me off, having you watching me like a hawk all the time.

He seemed to be watching her like a hawk , waiting for some reaction.

Kruger is watching them like a hawk !

They're watching me like hawks here.

Today, more than usual, he had been watching them like a hawk .

what's not to like/love?

work like a Trojan

work like a charm

Our new accounting system works like a charm .

A slap on the hand or the behind works like a charm for one parent-child combination.

But let me first applaud the coupling: it works like a charm .

However, the schmaltzy parts, near the end, work like a charm .

This time, the setup worked like a charm .

work like magic

I first borrowed a bottle from work and it works like magic .

The new layout and office furniture worked like magic .

work like magic/work like a charm

work/run/go like stink

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

By saying they're like bus queues, you've made lots of assumptions.

It's like poetry, Tom Rigby says, when they're working well.

It sort of migrated upward, like cream rising to the top.

The problem is that religion delivered as a sound bite is sort of like pate from a drive-through window.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.