befriendbe‧friend /bɪˈfrend/ verb [transitive] 
Verb Table Examples
They befriended me when I first arrived in London as a student.
Verb TableVERB TABLE
befriend
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | befriend |
| he, she, it | befriends | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | befriended |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have befriended |
| he, she, it | has befriended | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had befriended |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will befriend |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have befriended |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am befriending |
| he, she, it | is befriending | |
| you, we, they | are befriending | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was befriending |
| you, we, they | were befriending | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been befriending |
| he, she, it | has been befriending | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been befriending |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be befriending |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been befriending |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- A group of soldiers befriended my brothers and me during the war.
- His parents befriended some American soldiers who served in Wales during World War II.
- It's fairly unusual for high school seniors to befriend freshmen.
- Bosses were not always eager to befriend trainees.
- He had learned that it was not to befriend his subordinates, nor to compete with or dominate them.
- He ruled with justice and mercy, befriending the Moors rather than seeking to overpower them with his presence.
- In a park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one summer afternoon I befriend a little old retired Latin teacher.
- Its sponsor, a local arts patron named Clara Bates, befriended the teenager and installed him in her carriage house.
- Joan herself was a widow, and as an ex-nurse she befriended Stanley and began to care for him.
- Some dignitaries did befriend her, usually to get her away from their own localities.
- The bookmaker told Kalra he had befriended Cronje and was planning to fix the matches scheduled to be held in March.
Longman Language Activatorto become someone's friend► make friends
Word family to start to be someone's friend, especially when you have to make an effort to do this: · Her family moved a lot, and it wasn't always easy to make friends.make friends with: · The children soon made friends with the kids next door.
► become friends if two people become friends , they begin to be friends: · They met at an art class and became friends.· I'd known him for years, but we really didn't become friends until high school.
► hit it off informal if two people hit it off , they immediately become friends when they meet for the first time: · I knew you and Mark would hit it off.· The two men ended up in the same business law class and hit it off immediately.
► click informal if two people click , they like each other immediately when they first meet, because they have the same ideas or opinions, or laugh at the same things: · We just clicked, and we've been friends ever since.click with: · I never really clicked with my boss, and it made work a little more difficult.
► strike up a friendship to make friends with someone very quickly, especially if you do it intentionally: · The two women struck up a friendship when they met on holiday.· We met for the first time at a business conference, and we immediately struck up a friendship which has lasted for years.
► befriend to be friendly to someone who needs help, for example someone with financial or emotional problems: · His parents befriended some American soldiers who served in Wales during World War II.· It's fairly unusual for high school seniors to befriend freshmen.
► fall in with also get in with spoken to begin to be friends with a group of people, especially people that other people do not approve of: · He's fallen in with a group of boys I don't like very much.· She used her husband's money and family to get in with a group of Hollywood's social elite.
WORD FAMILYnounfriendfriendlinessfriendshipfriendlyadjectivefriendly ≠ unfriendlyfriendlessverbbefriend
to behave in a friendly way towards someone, especially someone who is younger or needs help: They befriended me when I first arrived in London as a student.