INDEX:
1. a friend
2. a very good friend
3. a group of friends
4. to be someone’s friend
5. to become someone’s friend
6. a friendly relationship with someone
7. to have important or rich friends who can help you
8. to stop being friendly with someone
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ ENEMY
see also
↑ FRIENDLY
↑ RELATIONSHIP
↑ GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND
↑ UNFRIENDLY
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1. a friend
▷ friend /frend/ [countable noun]
▪ Dad, this is my friend Steve.
▪ She’s going to Palm Springs with some friends.
▪ I got a letter from a friend from college.
friend of mine
▪ I’m going out for a drink with a friend of mine tonight.
be a good friend to somebody
to be someone’s friend and help them a lot when they have problems
▪ John was a really good friend to me when I had all those problems last year.
▷ mate /meɪt/ [countable noun] British informal
a friend - use this especially about boys or men :
▪ He always goes to the pub with his mates on Friday night.
mate of mine
▪ Terry’s an old mate of mine.
▷ buddy /ˈbʌdi/ [countable noun] American informal
a friend - use this especially about men or young people :
▪ He’s one of Mike’s buddies.
army/high school/war etc buddy
a friend that you met in the army, high school etc
▪ He’s out playing basketball with some of his high school buddies.
▷ pal /pæl/ [countable noun] informal
a friend. Pal is slightly more old-fashioned than mate or buddy :
▪ Nicholas was a pal of William’s at school.
▪ Thanks for helping us out, Frankie. You’re a real pal.
▷ acquaintance /əˈkweɪnt ə ns/ [countable noun]
someone that you know and sometimes see, but who is not one of your close friends :
▪ She’s just an acquaintance - I sometimes see her at aerobics.
▪ I don’t want to talk about religion with business acquaintances.
▷ friend of a friend /ˌfrend əv ə ˈfrend/ [countable noun]
someone who is not really your friend, but is someone one of your friends knows :
▪ I got the tickets through a friend of a friend who works in the theatre.
▪ No I don’t know him personally, he’s a friend of a friend.
2. a very good friend
▷ good/close friend /ˌgʊd, ˌkləʊs ˈfrend/ [countable noun]
someone that you know very well and like very much :
▪ Helen is one of my closest friends.
▪ Sam and I didn’t get along very well at first but now we’re really good friends.
▪ They were close friends of my parents when we lived in Minneapolis.
▷ best friend /ˌbest ˈfrend/ [countable noun]
the one special friend who is more important to you than any other :
▪ We lived next door to each other when we were kids, and we’ve been best friends ever since.
▪ Caroline and her best friend both had babies within three weeks of each other.
▷ old friend /ˌəʊld ˈfrend/ [countable noun]
a good friend that you have known for a long time :
▪ Lotte’s one of my oldest friends.
▪ I saw a few old friends at the reunion.
▷ inseparable /ɪnˈsep ə rəb ə l/ [adjective]
friends who are inseparable are together most of the time :
▪ My brother and James have been inseparable since they were at primary school.
▪ The three girls were inseparable friends.
▷ go back a long way also go way back /gəʊ ˌbæk ə lɒŋ ˈweɪ ǁ-lɔːŋ-, gəʊ ˈweɪ ˌbæk/ [verb phrase] informal
if two people go back a long way, they have known each other or been working together for a very long time :
▪ Sam and I go way back. We sat next to each other in first grade.
▪ I know your aunt - in fact we go back a long way.
3. a group of friends
▷ circle of friends also circle /ˌsɜːʳk ə l əv ˈfrendz, ˈsɜːʳk ə l/ [countable noun usually singular]
the people you know, especially a group of friends who all know each other and often meet socially :
▪ He had a large circle of friends.
▪ Since my children have started school, my circle has widened to include the mothers of other kids.
▷ the boys/the girls /ðə ˈbɔɪz, ðə ˈgɜːʳlz/ [plural noun] spoken
a group of male or female friends who often do things together :
▪ Sally’s having a night out with the girls from the office.
▪ It’s his poker night with the boys.
▷ the gang /ðə ˈgæŋ/ [countable noun] informal
a small group of friends who often meet socially :
▪ I usually go out with the gang on Saturday nights.
one of the gang
accepted into the group of friends
▪ She’s not really one of the gang, but I invited her to the party.
▷ crowd /kraʊd/ [singular noun] informal
a group of friends who often do things or go out together :
▪ He wasn’t with his usual crowd last night.
▪ It may be necessary to change your child’s school if they get in with a bad crowd.
▷ set /set/ [singular noun]
the tennis/golf club/arty etc set
a group of friends who meet socially, especially because they are all interested in the same sport or activity, especially an expensive one :
▪ She likes to mingle with the arty set.
▷ cronies /ˈkrəʊniz/ [plural noun]
a group of people who know each other, and will help each other, even if this means being slightly dishonest :
▪ Weiss was careful not to upset his political cronies.
▪ Her father is probably in the bar, drinking with his cronies.
4. to be someone’s friend
▷ be friends /biː ˈfrendz/ [verb phrase]
if two people are friends, they like each other and they enjoy doing things together :
▪ Bill and I used to be good friends, but we don’t see each other much now.
be friends with
▪ I’ve been friends with Andrea for about 10 years.
▷ get along also get on British /ˌget əˈlɒŋǁ-əˈlɔːŋ, ˌget ˈɒn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if two or more people get along or get on, they find it easy to talk and agree with each other, and so they feel relaxed when they spend time together :
▪ I used to argue a lot with my parents, but now we get along fine.
get along with
▪ Julie’s nice, but I don’t really get on with her brother.
▪ He’s a nice boy - very easy to get along with.
▷ be friendly with /biː ˈfrendli wɪð/ [verb phrase]
to have a good relationship with someone, even though you may not spend a lot of time together :
▪ Her family became very friendly with their neighbors, the Mayers.
▪ I used to be very friendly with a girl from Boston.
5. to become someone’s friend
▷ make friends /ˌmeɪk ˈfrendz/ [verb phrase]
to start to be someone’s friend, especially when you have to make an effort to do this :
▪ Her family moved a lot, and it wasn’t always easy to make friends.
make friends with
▪ The children soon made friends with the kids next door.
▷ become friends /bɪˌkʌm ˈfrendz/ [verb phrase]
if two people become friends, they begin to be friends :
▪ They met at an art class and became friends.
▪ I’d known him for years, but we really didn’t become friends until high school.
▷ hit it off /ˌhɪt ɪt ˈɒf/ [verb phrase] informal
if two people hit it off, they immediately become friends when they meet for the first time :
▪ I knew you and Mark would hit it off.
▪ The two men ended up in the same business law class and hit it off immediately.
▷ click /klɪk/ [intransitive verb] informal
if two people click, they like each other immediately when they first meet, because they have the same ideas or opinions, or laugh at the same things :
▪ We just clicked, and we’ve been friends ever since.
click with
▪ I never really clicked with my boss, and it made work a little more difficult.
▷ strike up a friendship /ˌstraɪk ʌp ə ˈfrendʃɪp/ [verb phrase]
to make friends with someone very quickly, especially if you do it intentionally :
▪ The two women struck up a friendship when they met on holiday.
▪ We met for the first time at a business conference, and we immediately struck up a friendship which has lasted for years.
▷ befriend /bɪˈfrend/ [transitive verb]
to be friendly to someone who needs help, for example someone with financial or emotional problems :
▪ His parents befriended some American soldiers who served in Wales during World War II.
▪ It’s fairly unusual for high school seniors to befriend freshmen.
▷ fall in with also get in with spoken /ˌfɔːl ˈɪn wɪð, ˌget ˈɪn wɪð/ [transitive verb]
to begin to be friends with a group of people, especially people that other people do not approve of :
▪ He’s fallen in with a group of boys I don’t like very much.
▪ She used her husband’s money and family to get in with a group of Hollywood’s social elite.
6. a friendly relationship with someone
▷ friendship /ˈfrendʃɪp/ [countable/uncountable noun]
▪ Our marriage is based on friendship, love, and trust.
▪ We didn’t see each other much during that time, but our friendship remained strong.
friendship with
▪ I had no close friendships with other boys at school.
friendship between
▪ Bernstein’s visit to Copland’s studio led to a friendship between the two composers.
▷ companionship /kəmˈpænjənʃɪp/ [uncountable noun]
a friendly and comfortable relationship with someone that you enjoy spending time with :
▪ He was lonely and looking for companionship.
▪ Older people often benefit from having a pet for companionship.
7. to have important or rich friends who can help you
▷ have friends in high places /hæv ˌfrendz ɪn haɪ ˈpleɪsə̇z/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
▪ He won’t lose his job -- he has plenty of friends in high places.
▷ well-connected /ˌwel kəˈnektə̇d◂/ [adjective]
having friends who have a lot of influence :
▪ The couple were well-educated and well-connected members of an elite social class.
▪ Richardson is very well-connected, both in the Democratic leadership and on political committees.
8. to stop being friendly with someone
▷ fall out /ˌfɔːl ˈaʊt/ [intransitive phrasal verb] especially British
to stop being friends because you have an argument :
▪ It was the first time Bill and I had fallen out.
fall out with
▪ She fell out with some of her school friends.
fall out over
▪ I didn’t think it was worth falling out over, but Emily obviously did.