FRIEND | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of friend in English friendnoun [ C ] uk /frend/ us /frend/

friend noun [C] (PERSON YOU LIKE)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 a person who you know well and who you like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family: best friend She used to spend hours chatting on the phone to her best friend.close friend Mira is one of my closest friends.oldest friend She's my oldest friend - we've known each other since we were five.family friend He's a family friend.friend of the family He's an old friend of the family.good friends We're good friends with José and Pilar.friend of This restaurant was recommended to me by a friend of mine.be friends We've been friends for years.friends with She said that she did not want to be friends with me any more.good friend José and Pilar are good friends of ours.just a friend He told his parents that Erin was just a friend.just good friends She said that she and Peter were just good friends (= they were not having a sexual relationship).make a friend I've made a lot of friends in this job.make friends She soon made friends with the other children. He finds it difficult to make friends. Related words befriend friendly friendshipSynonyms buddy informal chum (FRIEND) old-fashioned informal companion (PERSON) crony informal disapproving mate (FRIEND) UK informal mucker UK informal pal informalCompare acquaintance a person you know well and like

• friendWe've been friends for years.
• buddyHe's one of my dad's old war buddies.
• palThe heartthrob was spotted hanging with his Hollywood pals in L.A.
• mateUK He's out with his mates.

See more results » someone who is not an enemy and who you can trust: You don't have to pretend any more - you're among friends now.

• Is he a friend of yours ?
• Come and meet my friend Laura.
• Is it okay if I bring a friend to the party?
• I got a call from an old college friend last night.
• He's not my boyfriend - we're just good friends!

Friends, acquaintances & contemporaries

• acquaintance
• acquaintanceship
• acquainted
• acquainted with someone
• amigo
• confidant
• contact list
• contemporary
• crowd
• fair-weather friend
• mucker
• mutual
• mutual friend
• next door
• non-contemporary
• tagalong
• two's company, three's a crowd idiom
• what are friends for? idiom
• wingman
• with friends like you, who needs enemies? idiom

See more results »

friend noun [C] (PERSON GIVING MONEY)

someone who gives money to an arts organization or charity in order to support it: The Friends of the Royal Academy raised £10,000 towards the cost of the exhibition. Organizations - charities

• aid
• alms
• benevolence
• benevolent
• button day
• charity
• charity begins at home idiom
• charity box
• debt relief
• food pantry
• good cause
• goodwill
• international aid
• non-profit
• Oxfam
• the Red Cross
• Veganuary
• volunteer
• walkathon
• zakat

See more results »

Idioms

a friend in need is a friend indeed have friends in high places what are friends for? with friends like you, who needs enemies? friendverb [ T ]   informal uk /frend/ us /frend/ to invite someone to be your friend on a social networking website: I friended her and sent her a message. Inviting & summoning

• ask
• ask someone in phrasal verb
• ask someone out phrasal verb
• ask someone over phrasal verb
• call
• call (something) out phrasal verb
• call someone in phrasal verb
• invite
• invite someone for something
• invite someone in phrasal verb
• invite someone over phrasal verb
• invite someone to do something
• invitee
• recall
• send
• send for someone phrasal verb
• shout
• shout on someone phrasal verb
• uncalled
• uninvited

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Internet terminology Friendnoun [ C ] uk /frend/ us /frend/ a Quaker Religious people: followers of religious groups

• Adventist
• Anglican
• animist
• anti-cult
• anti-papal
• Episcopalian
• evangelist
• fakir
• Franciscan
• fundamentalist
• Moonie
• moral majority
• Mormon
• Moslem
• Muslim
• Shiite
• Sikh
• sisterhood
• Sufi
• Sunni

See more results » (Definition of friend from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

friend | American Dictionary

friendnoun [ C ] us /frend/ Add to word list Add to word list a person you know well and like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family: I dreamed my school friends were being chased by a whale. Today I got a call from a friend of mine. Chloë was her best friend. I moved to California, made friends (= became friends with people), and started dating. Friend can also be used when you are speaking to someone: Well, friends, I think it’s time to go. A person or organization that is a friend to/of a group or organization helps and supports it: The president has been no friend to small business. The Senator was a friend of business interests. (Definition of friend from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of friend

friend She had returned to her active schedule with friends, and volunteering. From the Cambridge English Corpus Their roles in friendships changed too in that they needed to determine how their friends were responding to their illness and adapt to that. From the Cambridge English Corpus Enthusiasm, however, can be 'overdone', as one respondent told me who, with his friends, used to laugh at the teacher who was 'trying too hard'! From the Cambridge English Corpus When the younger child wants to join in, the friend tells the older child to exclude the younger sibling from play. From the Cambridge English Corpus Another possible solution for minimising a person's dependence on family and friends outside the household is to recruit a relative to join the household. From the Cambridge English Corpus His friends find his presence there, but he does not recognise himself! From the Cambridge English Corpus The book was completed and prepared for publication by some of his friends and colleagues. From the Cambridge English Corpus These dimensions included spouse problems, spouse support, relative problems, relative support, friend problems, friend support, confidants and social integration. From the Cambridge English Corpus You see her as a fifteen-year-old, and with her female friends they have a club, they play cricket. From the Cambridge English Corpus He may compare the pain with that experienced by friends or relatives and have misconceptions about it. From the Cambridge English Corpus Spouses, friends and relatives die when a person reaches a very old age. From the Cambridge English Corpus Ties with close friends and/or relatives assumed greater importance for those aged 60 and older. From the Cambridge English Corpus These items are often referred to with the terms "false friends" or "quasi-homophones across languages". From the Cambridge English Corpus Some respondents regarded neighbours as friends and spent a lot of time with them. From the Cambridge English Corpus The opportunity structures for making friends were linked to all stages of life. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of friend These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with friend

friend

These are words often used in combination with friend.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

childhood friendHere he reconnects with his childhood friend, the head of the local nature reserve. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   close friendIn all cases, adolescents were able to name at least one close friend using these criteria. From the Cambridge English Corpus   closest friendThis study examines one facet of autonomy development: an adolescents' ability to maintain and successfully advocate for their own viewpoint in a dyadic discussion with their closest friend. From the Cambridge English Corpus   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with friend What is the pronunciation of friend, Friend?

Translations of friend

in Chinese (Traditional) 你喜愛的人, 朋友，友人, 自己人… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 你喜爱的人, 朋友，友人, 自己人… See more in Spanish amigo, amiga, conectar con… See more in Portuguese amigo, amiga, adicionar como amigo… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian मित्र, अशी व्यक्ती जी तुम्हाला चांगली माहीत असते, तुम्हाला खूप आवडते पण सहसा तुमच्या कुटुंबातील सदस्य नसते.… See more 友だち, （インターネットでやり取りをする）友だち, ソーシャルネットワーキングサービスで友達になる… See more arkadaş, dost… See more ami/amie [masculine-feminine], ami/-ie… See more amic, -iga, connectar amb… See more vriend… See more உங்களுக்கு நன்கு தெரிந்த ஒரு நபர் மற்றும் நீங்கள் யாரை மிகவும் விரும்புகிறீர்களோ அந்த நபர், ஆனால் பொதுவாக உங்கள் குடும்பத்தில் உறுப்பினராக இல்லாதவர்… See more मित्र, दोस्त… See more મિત્ર… See more ven, kammerat, venlig person… See more vän, väninna, gynnare… See more teman, penyayang… See more der Freund / die Freundin… See more venn [masculine], venn(inne), bekjent… See more دوست… See more друг, приятель, прихильник… See more বন্ধু, মিত্র, একজন ব্যক্তি যাকে আপনি ভাল জানেন এবং যাকে আপনি খুব পছন্দ করেন… See more přítel… See more teman, penyayang… See more เพื่อน, มิตร… See more bạn, người bạn, người ủng hộ… See more przyjaci-el/ółka, kole-ga/żanka, znajom-y/a… See more 친구, (인터넷)친구, 친구 추가 하다… See more amico, -a, -a (su piattaforme sociali su Internet)… See more Need a translator?

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fridge-freezer fried fried rice friedcake friend friend or foe phrase friend with benefits friendless friendlily {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of friend

• fair-weather friend
• best friend
• good friend
• bosom friend
• close friend
• false friend
• family friend

See all meanings

• feathered friend idiom
• friend or foe phrase
• man's best friend idiom
• man’s best friend idiom
• a friend in need is a friend indeed idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

stick out

UK /stɪk/ US /stɪk/

to go past the surface or edge of something

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • friend (PERSON YOU LIKE)
    • friend (PERSON GIVING MONEY)
  VerbNoun
• American   Noun
• Examples
• Collocations

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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