/ frend; NAmE / noun
PERSON YOU LIKE
1.
a person you know well and like, and who is not usually a member of your family :
This is my friend Tom.
Is he a friend of yours ?
She's an old friend (= I have known her a long time) .
He's one of my best friends .
a close / good friend
a childhood / family / lifelong friend
I heard about it through a friend of a friend .
She has a wide circle of friends .
—see also boyfriend , fair-weather , false friend , girlfriend , penfriend , school friend , befriend
SUPPORTER
2.
a person who supports an organization, a charity, etc., especially by giving or raising money; a person who supports a particular idea, etc. :
the Friends of St Martin's Hospital
a friend of democracy
NOT ENEMY
3.
a person who has the same interests and opinions as yourself, and will help and support you :
You're among friends here—you can speak freely.
SILLY / ANNOYING PERSON
4.
( ironic ) used to talk about sb you do not know who has done sth silly or annoying :
I wish our friend at the next table would shut up.
IN PARLIAMENT / COURT
5.
( in Britain ) used by a member of parliament to refer to another member of parliament or by a lawyer to refer to another lawyer in a court of law :
my honourable friend , the member for Henley (= in the House of Commons)
my noble friend (= in the House of Lords)
my learned friend (= in a court of law)
IN RELIGION
6.
Friend a member of the Society of Friends
SYN Quaker
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IDIOMS
- be / make friends (with sb)
- be (just) good friends
- a friend in need (is a friend indeed)
- have friends in high places
—more at man noun
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English frēond , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund , from an Indo-European root meaning to love, shared by free .