like anything

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Extremely, vigorously, as in She cried like anything when the dog died. This idiom probably substitutes anything for a swear word. [Colloquial; late 1600s]

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

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Words nearby like anything

like a chicken with its head cut off, like a drowned rat, like a fish out of water, like a house afire, like a lamb to the slaughter, like anything, like a shot, like as not, like as two peas in a pod, like a ton of bricks, like clockwork

How to use like anything in a sentence

If anything the work the two cops and the maintenance guy were doing deserves more respect and probably helped a lot more people.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Like many trans users, Transartist often gets used as a source of information more than anything else.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Neither the Republican nor the Democratic party have done anything to consistently target Asian- American voters.
Asian-Americans Are The New Florida|Tim Mak|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But Krauss said that from the moment he and the other scientists arrived on the island, they never saw anything untoward.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

So I started to think about anything in my life that would be worth people giving it any amount of time.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire|William O’Connor|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was a rumor that Alessandro and his father had both died; but no one knew anything certainly.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
As men fixed in the grip of nightmare, we were powerless—unable to do anything but wait.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
He made me think of an old time magician more than anything, and I felt that with a touch of his wand he could transform us all.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
May looked along at the dimpled grace, And then at the saint-like, fair old face, “How funny!”
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
Strathland would bundle me out in ten minutes if anything happened to Jack.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton