the like
99
4.1
- noun
:
cosas por el estilo
- A few weeks back, a patient of mine came to me with a highly aggressive form of fungal infection, the likes of which I've never seen before.
- emotion and the like
- security and the like
- communities and the like
I've never seen the likes of which are in the pan.
- I've never seen the likes of which are in the pan.
- Like all the characters, all the like storylines.
Examples
-
Anger, the need to win, the need to get even, and the like can all be powerful motivating forces.
Academic text (1999) -
The land won't produce for the likes of them.
-
Not for the likes of us.
-
I got no place in my agency for the likes of him.
-
But people blame the likes of us after what happened.
-
Sometimes we exercise our control over judges, politicians, businessmen, and the like simply to prove that we can.
Fiction book (1995) -
Jumpsuits, tiny hats, and the like, and all of it powder blue.
Fiction book (1995) -
We're very fortunate, we are very honored to have the likes of... Stuart Stein.
-
Abd-El Krim, their leader, very cunning, very clever has unified the Berber tribes into one fighting force, the like of which you have never seen.
-
For our picnic, we'll bring sandwiches, drinks, and the like.
Synonyms
110
6.4
People and things that are like someone and that people often mention to show surprise or dislike
89
5.7
A person or thing of the same kind
11
3.5
Things or people similar to those just mentioned
8
5.7
Other things like the ones mentioned
2
7.0
Like the other things just mentioned
Antonyms
How Similar
Surface Forms
Morphology
the + like
The phrase 'the like' is compositionally derived from the determiner 'the' plus 'like' (a person or thing of the same kind), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it means 'things of a similar kind.' This construction is common and cross-linguistically paralleled (e.g. 'y cosas por el estilo'), making its meaning immediately accessible rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
The phrase the like may come from people using the word like to point to other similar things when they list examples; imagine pointing at a parrot and saying 'parrots, toucans, and the like' to mean the other similar birds. So it now means 'things or people of a similar kind'.