PostgesSQL equivalent of the Oracle 'contains' operator

I'm beginning  a port of an Oracle  application to PostgrSQL.  One 
immediate issue is the use of the  Oracle 'contains' operator to do 
whole word searches on table rows that contain blank separated lists of 
names.  I  was told that the original application was written using the 
'like' operator but the contains operator was found to be much faster.

Is there a PostgreSQL equivalent for this type of use of the Oracle 
contains?

Thanks,
-=bill  stafford