Pair definition

pâr
paired pairing pairs
See word origin
Frequency:
A single thing made up of two corresponding parts that are used together.

A pair of pants.

noun
19
7
To join in marriage; mate.
verb
5
1
To form a pair; match.
verb
6
3
Pair is defined as to match up or provide with a partner.

An example of pair is to divide students into groups of two.

verb
2
1
(chiefly dial.) A set or series.

A pair of stairs, a pair of beads.

noun
2
2
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Used with binary nouns (often in the plural to indicate multiple instances, since such nouns are plurale tantum)

A pair of scissors; two pairs of spectacles; several pairs of jeans.

noun
1
1
(slang) A pair of breasts.

She's got a gorgeous pair.

noun
1
1
Two corresponding persons or items, similar in form or function and matched or associated.

A pair of shoes.

noun
5
6
One object composed of two joined, similar parts that are dependent upon each other.

A pair of pliers.

noun
4
5
(chemistry) An electron pair.
noun
0
1
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Two persons who are married, engaged, or dating.
noun
0
1
Two persons who have something in common and are considered together.

A pair of hunters.

noun
0
1
Two mated animals.
noun
0
1
Two animals joined together in work.
noun
0
1
Two playing cards of the same denomination.
noun
0
1
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To make a pair of (two persons or things) by matching, joining, mating, etc.
verb
0
1
To arrange in pairs.
verb
0
1
To provide with a partner.
verb
0
1
Two similar or identical things taken together; often followed by of.

I couldn't decide which of the pair of designer shirts I preferred, so I bought the pair.

noun
0
1
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Two people in a relationship, partnership (especially sexual) or friendship.

Spouses should make a great pair.

noun
0
1
A couple of working animals attached to work together, as by a yoke.

A pair is harder to drive than two mounts with separate riders.

noun
0
1
(card games) A poker hand that contains of two cards of identical rank, which cannot also count as a better hand.
noun
0
1
(cricket) A score of zero runs (a duck) in both innings of a two-innings match.
noun
0
1
(baseball, informal) A double play, two outs recorded in one play.

They turned a pair to end the fifth.

noun
0
1
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(baseball, informal) A doubleheader, two games played on the same day between the same teams.

The Pirates took a pair from the Phillies.

noun
0
1
(Australia, politics) The exclusion of one member of a parliamentary party from a vote, if a member of the other party is absent for important personal reasons.
noun
0
1
Two members of opposite parties or opinion, as in a parliamentary body, who mutually agree not to vote on a given question, or on issues of a party nature during a specified time.

There were two pairs on the final vote.

noun
0
1
(archaic) A number of things resembling one another, or belonging together; a set.
noun
0
1
(kinematics) In a mechanism, two elements, or bodies, which are so applied to each other as to mutually constrain relative motion; named in accordance with the motion it permits, as in turning pair, sliding pair, twisting pair.
noun
0
1
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To group into sets of two.

The wedding guests were paired boy/girl and groom's party/bride's party.

verb
0
1
To bring two (animals, notably dogs) together for mating.
verb
0
1
(politics, slang) To engage (oneself) with another of opposite opinions not to vote on a particular question or class of questions.
verb
0
1
(intransitive) To suit; to fit, as a counterpart.
verb
0
1
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
verb
0
1
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(obsolete) To impair.

verb
0
1
Pair means two similar things, often used together, or two persons or animals.

An example of a pair is two sneakers, one for the left foot and one for the right foot.

An example of a pair is two people who are going to get married.

noun
0
2
(games) Two playing cards of the same denomination.
noun
0
2
Two members of a deliberative body with opposing opinions on a given issue who agree to abstain from voting on the issue, thereby offsetting each other.
noun
0
2
To arrange in sets of two; couple.

The golfers are paired in twosomes for this round of play.

verb
0
2
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To combine or join (one person or thing) with another to form a pair.

A director pairing his favorite actor with an unknown; a salad that is paired with a fine dressing.

verb
0
2
To form pairs or a pair.

The people on the dance floor paired up.

verb
0
2
To join with another in love or mating.
verb
0
2
Two similar or corresponding things joined, associated, or used together.

A pair of gloves.

noun
0
2
Two persons or animals.
  • A married, engaged, or courting couple.
  • Two mated animals.
  • Any two people considered as having something in common.
    A pair of thieves.
  • A brace; span.
    A pair of oxen.
  • Two legislators on opposing sides of some question who agree to withhold their vote so as to offset each other; also, such an agreement.
noun
0
2
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pair off
  • to join in, or separate into, pairs
idiom
0
0

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
pair
Plural:
pairs

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

Origin of pair

  • Middle English from Old French paire from Latin paria equals pl. of pār a pair from pār equal perə-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old French paire, from Latin paria (“equals"), neuter plural of pār.

    From Wiktionary