Meanings
- Southern USnot comparablenearly; almost
We like to didn't make it through the drawbridge.
2 more examples
I like to (have) died when I saw you in that getup.
And the wall facing the hall was almost all glass. It looked more like a store display window than a room. Rob didn't know about all this until a week later when she was back on her ward; but when she told him, he like to died.
1995, Elizabeth Kytle, The Voices of Robby Wilde, page 204Synonyms: would have liked to
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbnearly; almost
Origin
Re-analysis of like (to) (an adjective meaning "likely") as an adverb. (Forms like liked to and would have liked to are from re-analysis as a verb.)
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
like to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20to
“like to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20to. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “like to,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20to.
Source: like to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.