like the weasel?

[shinem]

What does 'like the weasel he is' mean here? The speaker tells about his friend who's afraid of the teacher coming toward to them.

Tom, like the weasel he is, gets a panicked look on his face.

Thanks

[Ouisch]

In AmE, when someone is described as a "weasel", it means that they are often sneaky and cannot be trusted. I'm just guessing, but from the brief context you gave it seems like Tom and some other students were either misbehaving or cheating or otherwise doing something wrong in class. The other students kept a nonchalant, straight face when the teacher approached in order to avoid any suspicion, but Tom looked frightened, panicky, and ultimately guilty, which made the teacher suspect him of wrongdoing. And, if Tom was truly a weasel, once the teacher started questioning him he would immediately tattle on his friends.

[waflob]

Are you unsure of what a weasel is, or is it the word 'like' that is causing the question?

This reminds me of a classic example that I sometimes use in class.

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"

As you can see, the word 'like' can be used in comparisons, or as a verb. In your example, it is used for comparison.

[shinem]

Thanks for both explanations but I still couldn't understand like the weasel he is part. I know the meaning of weasel and function of like. But is sentence trying to define Tom that he's getting panicked because he's weasel, or something else that I didn't understand? Or am I thinking too complex for this sentence? :)