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pal

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PAL¹

  • /pæl/
  • [pʰæl]

Rhymes with -æl

noun PALs

  1. abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of phase alternating/alternation/alternated line (TV standard).
  2. abbreviation, acronym, countable Acronym of programmable array logic
  3. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of phenylalanine ammonia lyase
  4. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of permissive-action link
  5. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of prisoner at large
  6. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of peer-assisted learning
  7. abbreviation, countable, uncountable Abbreviation of precautionary allergen labeling

proper noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Police Athletic League
  2. abbreviation, historical, initialism Initialism of Paedophile Action for Liberation
  3. Philippines, abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Philippine Airlines, a flag carrier of the Philippines

pal²

  • /pæl/

Sounds like pow (some accents) · Rhymes with -æl

Where it comes from

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.

noun pals

  1. colloquial A friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with. Little Timmy's out playing with his pals.
  2. colloquial An informal term of address, often used ironically in a hostile way. Don't you threaten me, pal – I'll report you to the police.

verb pals · palling · 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.

    Similar: pal around

pal³

noun pals

  1. alternative Alternative form of paul (“kind of tent”).

Pal⁴

proper noun

  1. A language of Papua New Guinea.

Pal⁵

proper noun

  1. informal, slang Palestine.

noun Pals

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

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pal up, sidekick, crony, chum up, buddy, chum, brother, ppa, ppps, dog, ptp, ppp, lia, cme, mip, ntsc

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Cite this
MLA

"pal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pal

Chicago

"pal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pal.

BibTeX
@misc{pal_2026,
  title = {pal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}