What makes someone a friend?

Someone needs to come up with an alternative word for friend. Acquaintance sounds so
informal and that you barely know them. But friend implies that you’ve known them for a long time and are very close someone you trust. What about those in between people that you’ve known a long time and truly like, but have lost touch with, or never see, or have nothing in common with anymore. Do you still consider them friends? And if not, what do you call them?Just yesterday someone said something about their friends Andy, I asked how he knew him and the reply was, oh it’s a girl I used to work with step-dad. Huh? I replied, and you consider that person a friend? He replied, oh yeah he’s a great guy! Well if being a great guy makes you friends than I’m friends with A LOT of people I don’t even know!

This is what Webster says: Friend..........
A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.
Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.