buddies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of buddy.

   He went fishing with a couple of old buddies from college.

   The soldiers leaned on their buddies during the hardest stretches of the deployment.

   Note

   The regular plural, with -y turning to -ies. It covers both main uses of the noun: friends and casual acquaintances (old buddies from college), and partners paired for a particular activity. The same spelling also serves the verb's present-tense form, and grammar tells them apart: in "my buddies" it is a noun, and in "she buddies them" it is a verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of buddy.

   The instructor buddies each beginner with an experienced swimmer before the lesson starts.

   Whenever a new hire arrives, she buddies them with a seasoned mentor.

   Note

   Here buddy is a transitive verb meaning to assign someone a partner. It always needs an object, the person being paired: the instructor buddies each beginner. The partner usually follows with, as in she buddies a new hire with a mentor. The verb turns the noun's "partner for an activity" meaning into an action. Someone else does the pairing; the two people do not pair themselves.

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