LIKE

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.

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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.

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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.