friend /ˈfrɛnd/
 朋友,支持者,贊助者
 Friend n.
 1. One who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect, and affection that he seeks his society and welfare; a wellwisher; an intimate associate; sometimes, an attendant.
    Want gives to know the flatterer from the friend.   --Dryden.
    A friend that sticketh closer than a brother.   --Prov. xviii. 24.
 2. One not inimical or hostile; one not a foe or enemy; also, one of the same nation, party, kin, etc., whose friendly feelings may be assumed. The word is some times used as a term of friendly address.
    Friend, how camest thou in hither?   --Matt. xxii. 12.
 3. One who looks propitiously on a cause, an institution, a project, and the like; a favorer; a promoter; as, a friend to commerce, to poetry, to an institution.
 4. One of a religious sect characterized by disuse of outward rites and an ordained ministry, by simplicity of dress and speech, and esp. by opposition to war and a desire to live at peace with all men. They are popularly called Quakers.
    America was first visited by Friends in 1656.   --T. Chase.
 5. A paramour of either sex. [Obs.]
 A friend at court or A friend in court, one disposed to act as a friend in a place of special opportunity or influence.
 To be friends with, to have friendly relations with. “He's . . . friends with Cæsar.” --Shak.
 To make friends with, to become reconciled to or on friendly terms with. “Having now made friends with the Athenians.” --Jowett (Thucyd.).
 Friend, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Friended; p. pr. & vb. n. Friending.] To act as the friend of; to favor; to countenance; to befriend. [Obs.]
    Fortune friends the bold.   --Spenser.
 ◄ ►
 friend
      n 1: a person you know well and regard with affection and trust;
           "he was my best friend at the university"
      2: an associate who provides assistance; "he's a good ally in
         fight"; "they were friends of the workers" [syn: ally]
         [ant: foe]
      3: a person with whom you are acquainted; "I have trouble
         remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are
         friends of the family" [syn: acquaintance]
      4: a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their
         supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of
         the library" [syn: supporter, protagonist, champion,
          admirer, booster]
      5: a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by
         George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves
         Quakers) [syn: Quaker]