Friend with many French seamen (8)

I believe the answer is:

matelots

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'french seamen' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'friend with many' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'many' becomes 'lots' (lots of something).
'mate'+'lots'='MATELOTS'

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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