pal
A person who is your good friend; a buddy.
A person you know well and like a lot; a close friend, often used in a warm or casual way.
A casual word you say to a man when talking to him, sometimes friendly, sometimes a bit angry.
An informal word used to address a man, sometimes friendly but often slightly firm, annoyed, or confrontational in tone.
To be with someone a lot in a friendly way and do fun or normal things together.
To spend time with someone in a friendly, relaxed way; to act as close friends, often regularly.
- Base: pal
- Plural: pals
- Base: pal
- 3rd Person Singular: pals
- Present Participle: paling
- Past: paled
a pal of mine
1one of my friends
One of my friends; a friend that I know well.
- A pal of mine just moved to Berlin.
- I heard it from a pal of mine who works there.
- A pal of mine can get us cheap tickets.
be pals with
1to be friends with someone
To be friends with someone; to have a friendly relationship with them.
- She’s pals with almost everyone in the office.
- He used to be pals with my brother in high school.
- Are you still pals with your old roommate?
best pal
1closest or favorite friend
Your very closest friend; your number one friend.
- We’ve been best pals since kindergarten.
- My dog is my best pal when I feel sad.
- She’s my best pal, and I trust her completely.
hey, pal
1informal way to get a man’s attention
An informal way to call to a man, sometimes friendly, sometimes a bit angry or rude, depending on your voice.
- Hey, pal, you dropped something.
- Hey, pal, calm down a second.
- Hey, pal, this line starts back there.
old pal
1friend known for a long time
A friend you have known for many years.
- We ran into an old pal from college at the airport.
- He’s an old pal of my dad’s from the army.
- I’m having dinner with an old pal tonight.
pal around (with)
1spend relaxed time with friends
To spend a lot of relaxed, friendly time with someone, usually doing simple or fun things together.
- He used to pal around with a group of skateboarders after school.
- We palled around with our neighbors all summer.
- These days she mostly pals around with people from work.
pal up (with)
1become friendly and start hanging out
To become friends with someone and start spending time together.
- On the first day of camp, he quickly palled up with two boys from his cabin.
- She palled up with a girl from Italy during the exchange program.
- New students often pal up with people from their own country at first.
pen pal
1friend you exchange letters with
A friend who writes letters to you, often living far away.
- I have a pen pal in Japan.
- I had a French pen pal when I was in middle school.
- She met her husband through a pen pal program.
- We met online as pen pals and later visited each other.
- Her class started a pen pal project with a school in Canada.