pal
noun
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pal
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PAL
PALnouna special air service offered by the U.S. Postal Service for sending parcels from 5 to 30 pounds (2.3 to 13.5 kilograms) to overseas members of the armed forces: only the regular parcel post rate to the U.S. port of shipment plus $1 is charged.
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pal.
pal.abbreviationpaleography.
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Pal.
Pal.abbreviationPalestine.
pal
1 American
[pal]
/ pæl /
verb (used without object)
palled,
palling
PAL
2
American
[pal]
/ pæl /
noun
PAL
3
American
Or
P.A.L.
abbreviation
pal.
4
American
abbreviation
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paleography.
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paleontology.
Pal.
5
American
abbreviation
pal
1
British
/ pæl /
noun
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a close friend; comrade
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an accomplice
verb
Pal.
2
British
abbreviation
PAL
3
British
/ pæl /
acronym
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pal1
First recorded in 1675–85; English Romani: “brother, mate,” variant of continental Romani phral, ultimately from Sanskrit bhrātṛ “brother”; see brother
Origin of PAL2
P(arcel) A(ir) L(ift)
Explanation
A pal is a good friend. When you're feeling nervous, sad, or lonely after moving to a new town, it can make you feel better to talk to a pal. If you have a friend you think of as a buddy or a mate, that's a pal. Your earliest pals are often the kids in your neighborhood or at school. As you get older, you have the chance to meet more pals — and when you're friendly with these pals and hang out with them, you can say you "pal around" with them. Pal is originally a Romany word meaning "brother," from the Sanskrit bhrata, also "brother."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I'll definitely make that offer to my old buddy, old pal, and we'll see if he's available," said 38-year-old Fury.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Better to grab one of those syrupy $23 Deuces, a $44 visor, old pal Matt Futterman’s new tennis treatise and stake out the practice courts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
It only occurred to me recently that Sarandon was 44 years old when she played Louise, the pal who pulled the trigger.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
Morris, who’d flown in from New York after attending her pal Taylor Swift’s wedding on Friday night, made an improbably smooth segue between her and Zedd’s synthed-up “The Middle” and the rustic “My Church.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
“My pen pal sent them,” I explained every time.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
"If all robot production goes to Japan or China, that could be a big problem when it comes to sovereignty," said Francesco Ferro, chief executive of Spain's PAL Robotics.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Researchers measured the activity of protective enzymes including APX, SOD, PAL, and POD, while also analyzing gene expression linked to antioxidant defense systems.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
The Mitchells will have to learn to work together though when an evil AI named PAL decides to take revenge on humanity by launching them into space.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
It added that Air Canada Jazz, PAL Airlines and Air Canada Express flights were unaffected by the strike.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
They had risen with the dawn and taken Philippines Airlines, PAL for short, to Davao.
From The Pirates of Shan by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
“Once you’ve been out there shivering with someone, they’re your pal. You are connected in a certain way,” she adds.
From Washington Times ● May 3, 2023
“Goodbye, old pal. Thank you ... for so much brilliance in the theatre and sharing your music with us all.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2021
“Um, step aside, pal. You’re way too young and buff and you know it.”
From Fox News ● Apr. 2, 2020
"Alesha, I love you so much, my wee pal. I will miss you forever."
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2019
“Nice going, pal. You won fair and square.”
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
Robert of Gloucester: "With helm and hauberk;" and Dryden, Pal. and Arc. iii.
From Select Poems of Thomas Gray by Robert Carruthers
To be bréefe, he plaied in all points the right part of a tyrant, and shewed himselfe such a one in all respects as mainteined his title, Pal. in suo cap.
From Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (6 of 12) Richard the First by Raphael Holinshed
And true it is, that as men liue, so commonlie they die: for, as one saith verie well: M. Pal. in suo scor. —— bona nulla scelestis Et iustis mala nulla quidem contingere possunt.
From Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (4 of 12) Stephan Earle Of Bullongne by Raphael Holinshed
See Rostagno in the preface to his edition of this manuscript in the Leyden series, and for the Pliny, Chatelain, Pal. des Class.
From A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger A Study of Six Leaves of an Uncial Manuscript Preserved in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York by E. A. (Elias Avery) Lowe
Colin had the brief pleasure of rolling in with an army of off-duty Baltimore cops, old pals of his, and taking it back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Two women who became transatlantic pen pals when they were in the Brownies say they now feel "more like family", having written to each other regularly for 70 years.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“But we are not looking for people to be pen pals, which seems to be what everybody wants to do. We need real help.”
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
“We’re not quite sure what the rules of the sport are, so we’re a little lost,” said Hughes, 57, who was hosting her college pals at her nearby summer home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“They’ve got all my pals, haven’t they? The only ones left are me and Hungry Joe.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
In the early 1960s, when Robert Duvall was struggling to make it in New York City, he palled around with a couple of fellow actors also trying to find their way in the business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Billionaires Bill Gates and Peter Thiel palled around with Epstein long after his conviction, as did Kathryn Ruemmler, one of the top lawyers in the Obama administration, who is now General Counsel at Goldman Sachs.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2025
It wasn’t malicious, just good old-fashioned razzing; Randolph palled around with James at the close of media day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
Mascots from each club palled around on the field at Truist Park and posed for pictures with The Commissioner’s Trophy and Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League trophy.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2021
And when the garden palled, Elizebeth and William had another retreat to sustain them—their library.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Plus, Musk might be a bit busy to be palling around with the powerful in snowy Switzerland.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
Though he always looked great on a red carpet, you couldn’t imagine him pranking or palling around with his fellow celestials.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2022
But what good is palling around with people in a sprawling, interconnected virtual space if you can’t feel the “world” around you?
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2022
Brady was shown palling around with his boyhood idol, Joe Montana, as well as with other great quarterbacks, such as Brett Favre, John Elway and Dan Marino.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2020
Once, in the middle of a dense stand of oak, they came face-to-face with three men palling a load of firewood in an ax cart, with no way for either to get around.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
