Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word friend. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word friend, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say friend in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word friend you have here. The definition of the word friend will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offriend, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
...if you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means.
1923, William Armistead Falconer translating Cicero as De Amicitia, Loeb Classical Library, Vol. XX, p. 34:
...he who looks upon a true friend, looks, as it were, upon a sort of image of himself. Wherefore friends, though absent, are at hand; though in need, yet abound; though weak, are strong; and—harder saying still—though dead, are yet alive; so great is the esteem on the part of their friends, the tender recollection and the deep longing that still attends them.
...you are my devoted friend too. You do more and work harder and oh shit I'd get maudlin about how damned swell you are. My god I'd like to see you... You're a hell of a good guy.
1933 Dec. 12, Walter Winchell, "On Broadway", Scranton Republican, p. 5:
Definition of a friend: One who walks in—when the rest of the world walks out.
John and I have been friends ever since we were roommates at college. Trust is important between friends. I used to find it hard to make friends when I was shy.
We became friends in the war and remain friends to this day. We were friends with some girls from the other school and stayed friends with them.
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
a friend of a friend
I added him as a friend on Facebook, but I hardly know him.
A person who backs or supports something.
I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
(informal) An object or idea that can be used for good.
Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend
1813, Samuel Foote, The Commissary, Etc., page 17:
Time has been, when a gentleman wanted a friend, I could supply him with choice in an hour; but the market is spoiled, and a body might as soon produce a hare or a partridge […]
He was not a drop's blood to me, though him and my wife were far-out friends.
(in the plural, usually preceded by "and")Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to issue forced apologies for their assumptive comments regarding non-profit organisation Turning Point USA...
Usage notes
friends is found as an invariable plural in the phrases make friends with and be friends with: I am friends with her; He made friends with his co-worker.
In older texts and certain dialects, the prepositional phrase to friend means "as a friend or an ally", for exampleː "with God to frend (Spenser)". The antonym to the phrase to friend is to fiend.
’Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale Is not so brisk a brew as ale: Out of a stem that scored the hand I wrung it in a weary land. But take it: if the smack is sour, The better for the embittered hour; It should do good to heart and head When your soul is in my soul’s stead; And I will friend you, if I may, In the dark and cloudy day.
(transitive) To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
The difference between responses to the statement, "If someone friends me, I will friend them," and "If I friend someone, I expect them to friend me back," is telling.
2006, Kevin Farnham, Dale G. Farnham, Myspace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens And Parents, How-To Primers, →ISBN, page 69:
One of the most used features of MySpace is the practice that is nicknamed "friending." If you "friend" someone, then that person is added to your MySpace friends list, and you are added to their friends list.
^ Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book, 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 75.
The police sent a letter to Wong yesterday, claiming the comic had mentioned that the fake news was “spread out from the likes ofJunior Police Call”. They expressed strong dissatisfaction and attention towards the unreasonable accusation by the comic, requesting a clarification.
I don't want us to just be close for this while. I want us to turn back into how we were before, when we were so close that we would chat about anything, when we would normally look for each other to talk if anything happens.
But since everyone is a kid, we quickly became close. I easily get along with others, no matter if it's with Hong Kongers or Indians, so it doesn't matter which school I go to.
1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:
Mye thee friend ne're waant welcome, nor straayart comfoort.
May thy friend ne'er want welcome, nor the stranger comfort.
References
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 100