buddy

plural buddies

1. A friend or casual acquaintance.

   They have been buddies since they were in school.

   1 more example

   He told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me.

   1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 23

   Synonyms: bud, butty, mate, babber, billy, bredrin, bruv, bud

2. A partner for a particular activity.

   drinking buddies

   Synonyms: companion, partner

   1. A workmate assigned to work closely with another.

      Near-synonym: butty

      1 more example

      training buddies [mentor/mentee]

      Synonyms: companion, partner, butty

3. An informal and friendly address to a stranger, usually male; a friendly (or occasionally antagonistic) placeholder name for a person one does not know.

   Hey, buddy, I think you dropped this.

   Synonyms: mate, fellow

1. Maritime EnglishA person far removed from the conversation.

   Buddy's loaded. 'Got like three houses.

   1 more example

   I found some earphones in the pocket, buddy must have been pissed.

present singular third person buddies · participle present buddying · participle past buddied · past buddied

1. transitiveTo assign a buddy, or partner, to.

   If you are being formally buddied, have a good chat with your buddy and find out their interests -- these should more or less match your own.

   2007, Philip Briggs, Danny Edmunds, Mozambique: The Bradt Travel Guide, →ISBN, page 86

comparative more buddy · superlative most buddy

1. Resembling a bud.

   Some of the dwarfer varieties are full of buddy growths in the early stages and these must be cut down and thrown away.

   1963, John Herbert Goddard, Chrysanthemum Growers' Treasury, page 18

alternative Buddie

1. A male nickname.
2. USrareA male given name from English.
3. A given name for a dog.