- 1used to describe someone or something appearing to be someone or something else They were all dressed as clowns. The bomb was disguised as a package.
- 2used to describe the fact that someone or something has a particular job or function She works as a courier. Treat me as a friend. I respect him as a doctor. You can use that glass as a vase. The news came as a shock. She had been there often as a child (= when she was a child).
- You can use both as and like to say that things are similar.
- Like is a preposition and is used before nouns and pronouns:He has blue eyes like me.
- As is a conjunction and an adverb and is used before a clause, another adverb, or a phrase beginning with a preposition:She enjoys all kinds of music, as do I. As always, he said little.
- In spoken English, like is frequently used as a conjunction or an adverb instead of as:Nobody understands him like I do. I don’t want to upset him again like before.It is also used instead of as if:It looks like we’re going to be late.
- You will find more help on the use of as and like in the entries for particular verbs, such as act, behave, etc.
Check pronunciation: as