verb

• Act as or become a friend to (someone), especially when they are in need of help or support.

  ‘he makes a point of befriending newcomers to Parliament’

  More example sentences

  • ‘She befriended him and offered support after reading about the 1995 case in the news.’
  • ‘While a supervision order is in force it is the duty of the supervisor to advise, assist and befriend a supervised child.’
  • ‘Daniel befriended a girl on the way who had friends that would let him stay in their apartment.’
  • ‘Barrie makes it his mission to support the family and to befriend Peter.’
  • ‘On the other side I befriended this guy at work when I was only 16, he was 18 and was a Catholic.’
  • ‘I was really the first one to befriend her, and protected her from the other pirates.’
  • ‘He befriends this young boy, who hopes to remain friends following their hospital stay.’
  • ‘When she first met Blake she'd pitied him because he only had a few friends, so she had befriended him.’
  • ‘Robin stars as a disabled janitor who befriends a young boy.’
  • ‘There, he befriends a deaf girl (Jack knows sign language!) and her hockey-playing brother.’
  • ‘So he visits and befriends the traumatised boy.’
  • ‘But gradually, he makes his way in a small Southern town where he gets a job as a mechanic, and befriends a young boy who is also an outsider.’
  • ‘On a mission to win Mrs. Creswell over for Raymond, Archie befriends the elderly woman and the two become close pals.’
  • ‘But things change when a woman beggar comes to the area and befriends him.’
  • ‘Stuck in the jungle, our hero befriends a peasant named Pacha and together they attempt to return to the palace in order to restore his human form.’
  • ‘He befriends Mary, and tells her how he found the precious papers.’
  • ‘When a girl from the Bronx moves in next door and befriends her, Mooney's outlook changes.’
  • ‘On New Year's Eve he meets their mother at a dinner party and subsequently befriends the family.’
  • ‘Then she befriends her family's prisoner, and he shows her that a kite can fly.’
  • ‘Torn between turning Henry in and befriending him, Carol chooses the latter - and tries to convince Henry to do ‘a job’ with her.’

  Synonyms

  make friends with, make a friend of, look after, protect, keep an eye on, support, back, stand by, side with, encourage, sustain, uphold, succour, advise, guide

  View synonyms