a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter
friends of the Boston Symphony.
a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.
Who goes there? Friend or foe?
a member of the same nation, party, etc.
Friend, a member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.
The religious practices of Friends are founded in direct communion with God.
a person associated with another as a contact on a social media website.
We've never met, but we're Facebook friends.
Rare. to befriend.
to add (a person) to one's list of contacts on a social media website.
I just friended a couple of guys in my class.
a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate
an acquaintance or associate
an ally in a fight or cause; supporter
a fellow member of a party, society, etc
a patron or supporter
a friend of the opera
to be friendly (with)
to become friendly (with)
Spelling tips for friend The word friend is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it sounds like [ frend ], making it easy to miss the i. Second, even if you know there is an i, it can be difficult to remember the order of the i and the e. How to spell friend: To remember that friend has an i in it, think of the phrase "I see my friends on Friday." Both friend and Friday begin fri-. If you remember that friend has an i in it, but just can't remember where it goes, keep in mind the classic mnemonic device "I before E, except after C."
See acquaintance.
First recorded before 900; Middle English friend, frend, Old English frēond “friend, lover, relative” (cognate with Old Saxon friund, Old High German friunt ( German Freund ), Gothic frijōnds ), originally the present participle of frēogan, cognate with Gothic frijōn “to love”
A friend is your buddy, your pal, your amigo, your comrade. You know, someone you trust and like enough to hang out with on a regular basis. The noun friend comes to us from the Old English word freond. Back then you had to be careful to not confuse freond with feond, which meant “fiend or enemy.” These days it's pretty tough to get mixed up though. Friends are the people you can count on, the ones that make you laugh and throw you birthday parties. Enemies are generally the mean ones.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even though he’s now in the main cast, viewers should keep their expectations low on Kripke suddenly becoming a true ally or friend to Stuart, Denise and Bert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Graham broke with Trump, however, after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden – a former Senate friend of Graham's who he once called "the nicest person I've ever met in politics".
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Gerstner’s friend Michael Dell helped secure an audience with Trump in the White House where Gerstner showed the president a minute-long AI-generated video he made about the idea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
"Symbolic marriage certificate" reads the document, with a special space denoting "paw print of your furry friend."
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
It was making a low, friendly yip-and-yowl which sounded a bit like it’s all right, I’m a friend.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Matthew Friend, the current CFO, will leave that role but stay with the company through Sept. 4 to help with the transition.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
He is expected to succeed Matthew Friend, who will stay on through Sept. 4 to support the transition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
In Leung's latest film, "Silent Friend" -- his first outing in a fully European production -- a ginkgo tree plays a central role.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Prior to that, the first song he ever recorded was Elvis Presley's The Girl of My Best Friend.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
“You know I mean girlfriend, right? Not, like, girl, period. Friend, period.”
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
I love eating while I travel, but I’m just as happy cooking at home—especially when there are friends and family to enjoy with.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
My 40-something friends are training for marathons, opening new businesses, dating, having babies and changing careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The pros included a vast support network of friends and neighbors, 24/7 security guards stationed at the entrance gate, and scenic lakes, swimming pools and tennis courts throughout her development.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
Israel lost "one of its greatest friends", he added.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
But this is where our badger friends differ.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
“Facebook would always tell me, oh, you should be friends with Steve Badger, but I never friended him because I thought he was so mad at me about our awkward breakup,” Calkins said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
Recently my friend's father "friended" me on Facebook.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2021
Six years later, in July 2007, with camp and about two dozen mutual friends in common, she friended him on Facebook before they each headed off to college.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2021
A 2019 Swalwell campaign video shows the congressman and his family members on screen, and they appear to be the same people in the Facebook photos of the accounts friended to Fang.
From Fox News ● Dec. 9, 2020
“I’ve seen it. You friended me. And JP’s got one too.”
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
In Slatten’s case, Singh had been catfishing her via a fake Facebook profile, friending her in 2013, but he ultimately came clean about his identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Imagine people friending you six months before an election and they're talking to you.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2025
For months, many of them have been posting comments and photos, friending each other and following fake Trump accounts.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2022
Why the Cool Kids Are Playing Dungeons & Dragons Annalee Newitz traded Facebook for D&D: What drove me away from Facebook wasn’t just the fake friending.
From The Verge ● Apr. 9, 2019
I was thinking I'd gang all the way to London without coming across a man worth fighting, much less friending, but I was in the wrang of it.
From The Yeoman Adventurer by Gough, George W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
