Main meanings of pal in English

: pal¹ PAL²

pal¹

Pronunciation /pal/

See synonyms for pal

Translate pal into Spanish

noun

informal

1A friend.
- ‘we've been pals for a long time’
- ‘We had so many pals and friends through art school that we usually got a good turnout anyway.’
- ‘Other pals chummed him along the first stretch from Milngavie and his dad kept him company yesterday.’
- ‘School pals and teachers were highly delighted and all wish her well in the final rally.’
- ‘But he is confident his old pals will do the business and launch the club into Division One.’
- ‘She never saw her school pals, who sent her video messages and letters of comfort.’
- ‘He already has a fan club in the shape of his family, who cheered him on in the studio, and school pals.’
- ‘The next few days will be a series of frenzied meetings with pals, with former employers and old friends.’
- ‘Not only am I thinking of buying from friends but my lawyer is one of my best pals too.’
- ‘A few people turned up, but to be honest, I had no idea if any of them were my former school pals or not.’
- ‘They took the triplets into school and Megan enjoyed showing them off to her pals.’
- ‘Your child may be great friends with someone one day, then best pals with somebody else the next.’
- ‘While Henry may have failed to taste true European glory with Leeds, he at least had a whiff of it, he tells pals.’
- ‘You are likely to get trustworthy pals, while some others may go for a new vehicle.’
- ‘They became good pals and discovered that they all had a strong interest in music.’
- ‘When she started to improve, her pals decided to treat her to a night out.’
- ‘It offers visitors an opportunity to find new pals to enjoy a drink with, and maybe some conversation too.’
- ‘The pair became party pals and were spotted in some of the Welsh capital's trendiest nightspots.’
- ‘He and pals later moved on to a bar in the Quay Street area of the city.’
- ‘Six of his pals were also given a ticking-off by police officers but they were allowed to make the journey.’
- ‘The pair, both aged 21, had been pals for six years and had a mutual love of cars.’
friend, companion, comrade, intimate, familiar, confidant, alter ego, second self
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1. 1.1Used as a form of address, especially to indicate anger or aggression.
  ‘back off, pal’
  ‘Paramedics have been asked by bosses not to call people duck, pal, love or mate for fear of causing offence.’
  ‘In other words, you try to take what's mine, pal, and I'm going to stop you with the best means available.’
  ‘This is Southern California, pal, where physical imperfection will NOT be tolerated.’
  ‘I also remember you said you would be coming along on that little road trip too, pal.’
  ‘Are you going to races all your life or are you going to finally get in the race, pal?’
  ‘This is one of those bars where lads who used to be bad boys drink and the staff call you pal, not sir.’
  man, my friend
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verbverb pals, verb palling, verb palled

[no object] informal pal up

1Form a friendship.
- ‘she palled up with some English chaps’
- ‘He pals up with a guy who works in catering, who feeds him in return for information about a girl he fancies at the immigration desk, and he gets a job, building a new departure gate.’
- ‘So he pals up with her descendant, herself a post-feminist critic.’
- ‘He's like the bloke you pal up with in your first week at university and then spend the rest of the term avoiding when you find out what he's really like.’
- ‘In this twisty take on the western, two upper-class Englishmen, sent to Montana to find their missing brother, pal up with a motley assortment of fellow travellers.’
- ‘Meanwhile, the husband pals up with a solid, old-style earth Mother who lives in his apartment building, just so that we know how far his wife has strayed.’
- ‘If dogs don't have other dogs to ‘pack’ with, they pal up with us humans, another social animal.’
- ‘There is much to be said for waiters who know their job and don't want to pal up with the punters.’
- ‘You might think that they would pal up and close ranks to try and beat the opposition.’
- ‘Nellie looked a bit annoyed at my comment and I decided she and Annie must have palled up already- and probably Sarah too.’
- ‘You'll need to find some other poor sap to put up with you now, perhaps you can pal up with Longbottom.’
become friendly, make friends, become friends, form a friendship
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1. 1.1pal aroundSpend time with a friend.
  ‘we got acquainted but we never really palled around’
  ‘He explains: ‘Paddy was working on the railway at the time in Portlaoise and we palled around together.’’
  ‘Yet he refuses to buy into the theory that his lack of production has anything to do with the injury to his close friend, who lived in the same condo complex as Sundin in Toronto and often palled around together.’
  ‘The cheetah and raccoon didn't normally pal around together, but they had shared a cab from their hotel to the same area of town.’
  ‘Once there, things go from lousy to worse as Emily starts staring blankly into the surrounding woods and palling around with a sinister invisible friend called Charlie.’
  ‘This is where you pal around with your friend or friends and just have fun.’
  ‘Meanwhile, Simone pals around with the local bad boy with a heart of gold, who takes her for rides on the back of his motorcycle and buys her expensive diamond necklaces she can't see.’
  ‘Although she doesn't spend much time in North America - Europe seems to be hogging her - Heather pals around with all the big names.’
  ‘It's not like he pals around and makes sundry business deals with convicted felons.’
  ‘Get a profile up online that's sexy, forward, funny and easy on the self-deprecation - one where there is clearly no room for just palling around.’
  ‘. Of course palling around with him meant doing untold quantities of drugs, which the story makes clear was part of his downfall.’
  ‘It is dangerous for economists to expand into measuring happiness among ‘potential smokers’ and other groups, given the profession's penchant for palling around with legislators and bureaucrats.’
  ‘The one drawback are the cheesy moments of him palling around with his cutesy kids.’
  ‘Meanwhile, she has been conspicuously palling around with a billionaire.’
  ‘As a youth, I was a friendly soul, palling around with all and sundry.’
  ‘I've never really palled around with anybody that does what I do.’
  ‘It would be good for you to find a study partner, especially one that you can pal around with from a public school.’
  mix, keep company, mingle, socialize, get together, go around, rub shoulders, fraternize, consort, have dealings
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