friend 
/ˈfrɛnd/ noun
plural friends /ˈfrɛnd/ noun [count] 1 : a person who you like and enjoy being with
▪ I'd like you to meet my friend. ▪ She is such a good/close/dear friend (of mine). ▪ We're fast friends. = We're the best of friends. ▪ He's no friend of mine. ▪ He has always been a good friend to me. [=he has always helped or supported me as a good friend should] ▪ She's my best friend. [=my closest friend] ▪ We are childhood friends. [=we have been friends since we were children] ▪ old friends [=people who have been friends for a long time] ▪ She is an old family friend. = She is an old friend of the family. [=she has known and spent time with the family over many years] ▪ We are just friends. [=we are not in a romantic relationship] ▪ He wants to be friends with my younger sister. [=he wants to be my sister's friend] ▪ She is best friends with my younger sister. [=she is my youngest sister's closest friend] ◊Friend is sometimes used in a humorous or ironic way to refer to someone who is annoying or disliked.
▪ Has our friend with the rude attitude been bothering you lately? ▪ Don't look now. Here comes your friend. 2 : a person who helps or supports someone or something (such as a cause or charity)
▪ She is a friend of the environment. [=she supports environmental causes] ▪ The strikers knew they had a friend in the senator. [=knew that the senator supported them] ▪ Are you friend or foe? [=do you support us or oppose us?] 3 Friend : quaker
▪ I'd like you to meet my friend. ▪ She is such a good/close/dear friend (of mine). ▪ We're fast friends. = We're the best of friends. ▪ He's no friend of mine. ▪ He has always been a good friend to me. [=he has always helped or supported me as a good friend should] ▪ She's my best friend. [=my closest friend] ▪ We are childhood friends. [=we have been friends since we were children] ▪ old friends [=people who have been friends for a long time] ▪ She is an old family friend. = She is an old friend of the family. [=she has known and spent time with the family over many years] ▪ We are just friends. [=we are not in a romantic relationship] ▪ He wants to be friends with my younger sister. [=he wants to be my sister's friend] ▪ She is best friends with my younger sister. [=she is my youngest sister's closest friend] ◊Friend is sometimes used in a humorous or ironic way to refer to someone who is annoying or disliked.
▪ Has our friend with the rude attitude been bothering you lately? ▪ Don't look now. Here comes your friend.
▪ She is a friend of the environment. [=she supports environmental causes] ▪ The strikers knew they had a friend in the senator. [=knew that the senator supported them] ▪ Are you friend or foe? [=do you support us or oppose us?]
a friend in need is a friend indeed
— used to say that a friend who will help you when you need help is a true friend
friends in high places
◊To have friends in high places is to know people with social or political influence or power.
▪ She got the job because she has friends in high places.
▪ She got the job because she has friends in high places.
make friends
: to become someone's friend
▪ Sometimes it is hard for children to make new friends. — often + with ▪ She's very good at making friends with people from all walks of life.
▪ Sometimes it is hard for children to make new friends. — often + with ▪ She's very good at making friends with people from all walks of life.
man's best friend — see 1man
