Many a friend may linger (5)
I believe the answer is:
dally
'linger' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'many a friend' is the wordplay.
'many' becomes 'd'.
'a friend' becomes 'ally' ('ally' can be a synonym of 'friend').
'd'+'ally'='DALLY'
'may' is the link.
(Other definitions for dally that I've seen before include "Dawdle - delay" , "take time" , "Move slowly" , "Procrastinate" , "Linger" .)