pal

P3A1L1
/pæl/[pʰæl]

noun

A friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with.

“Little Timmy's out playing with his pals.”

CommonScrabble 5

Meanings

pal1

nounpal (plural pals)

plural pals

  1. colloquialA friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with.

    Little Timmy's out playing with his pals.

    1 more example

    "Mob job. The Mafia has a sample of the drug for the first time, thanks to me and my pal Ng. Until now, it always self-destructed before they could get to it. So I guess they're analyzing it or something. Trying to make an antidote, maybe."

    1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 233
  2. colloquialAn informal term of address, often used ironically in a hostile way.

    Don't you threaten me, pal – I'll report you to the police.

    1 more example

    Michael De Santa (Ned Luke): You forget a thousand things every day, pal. Make sure this is one of 'em.

    2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: Threatening a security officer during a bank heist, level/area: Prologue
verbpal (third-person singular simple present pals, present participle palling, simple past and past participle palled)

present singular third person pals · participle present palling · participle past palled · past palled

  1. Synonym of pal around.

    As an adult, she moved to New York and palled with trip-hop artist Tricky, who signed her to his own label.

    2012 November 26, Evan Schlansky, “Song Premiere: Ife Sanchez Mora, Hopeful Heart”, in American Songwriter
    3 more examples

    There were pictures of Garcia flashing diamond mouth grills. Spewing out a Vesuvius-amount of smoke. Showing off a riot of body tattoos. Aiming guns. Palling with superstars like Lil Wayne and Chris Brown. […]

    2017 August 21, Kyle Swenson, “The rise and fall of Miami’s ‘CEO of Purple Drank’”, in The Washington Post

    In the trial, they showed photographs and videos of Unsworth being congratulated by the UK prime minister, palling with Thai government officials, and smiling while Prince William pinned him with an MBE, an appointment to the Order of the British Empire.

    2020 January 30, Ryan Mac, “How Tesla CEO Elon Musk Won His "Pedo Guy" Trial”, in BuzzFeed News

    Greco also palled with Stone’s friend “Manhattan Madam” Kristin Davis, who was convicted of prostitution-related activities and selling prescription drugs.

    2022 March 4, Graham Rayman, “Roger Stone said he never saw NYPD cop bodyguard with a gun or shield — video shows otherwise”, in New York Daily News

    Synonyms: pal around

pal2

nounpal (plural pals)

plural pals

  1. alternativeAlternative form of paul (“kind of tent”).

PAL3

nounPAL (countable and uncountable, plural PALs)

plural PALs

  1. abbreviationacronymuncountablebroadcastingAcronym of phase alternating/alternation/alternated line (TV standard).
  2. abbreviationacronymcountablebusinessAcronym of programmable array logic.
  3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebiochemistryInitialism of phenylalanine ammonia lyase.
  4. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of permissive-action link.
  5. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of prisoner at large.
  6. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableeducationAcronym of peer-assisted learning.
  7. abbreviationcountableuncountableAbbreviation of precautionary allergen labeling.
proper noun
  1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Police Athletic League.
  2. abbreviationhistoricalinitialismInitialism of Paedophile Action for Liberation.
  3. PhilippinesabbreviationacronymaeronauticsAcronym of Philippine Airlines, a flag carrier of the Philippines

Pal4

proper noun

Pal5

proper noun
  1. informalslangPalestine.
nounPal (plural Pals)

plural Pals

  1. informalslangPalestinian.

    Saeb Erekat, who negotiates for Palestine, is one of the most famous Pals in the world.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbSynonym of pal around.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna close friend who accompanies their buddies in their activities

Broader

verbbecome friends; act friendly towards

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Sanskritभ्रातृ“brother”
  2. Romaniphral“brother”
  3. Angloromanipal“brother, friend”
  4. Englishpal

PIE word *bʰréh₂tēr Borrowed from Angloromani pal (“brother, friend”), from Romani phral (“brother”), from Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother”). Doublet of bhai, brother, bru, frater, friar, and vai.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian прия́тел
  • прия́тел (prijátel)(colloquial) a friend
Esperanto amiko
  • amiko(colloquial) a friend

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pal

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

pow (some accents)pow (some accents)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

pal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pal

MLA

“pal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pal. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pal.

Source: pal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.