pair
UK /pɛə/ · US /pɛɹ/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun Two alike 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 One of the constituent items that make up a pair.
- noun Two people in a relationship, partnership or friendship. “Spouses should make a great pair.”
- noun Used with binary nouns (often in the plural to indicate multiple instances, since such nouns are plural only, except in some technical contexts). “a pair of scissors; two pairs of spectacles; several pairs of jeans”
- noun 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 (card games) A poker hand that contains two cards of identical rank, which cannot also count as a better hand.
- noun (cricket) A score of zero runs (a duck) in both innings of a two-innings match.
- noun (baseball, informal) A double play, two outs recorded in one play. “They turned a pair to end the fifth.”
- verb (transitive) To group into one or more sets of two. “The wedding guests were paired boy/girl and groom's party/bride's party.”
- verb (computing) to link two electronic devices wirelessly together, especially through a protocol such as Bluetooth. “It was not possible to pair my smartphone with an incompatible smartwatch.”
- verb (transitive) To bring two (animals, notably dogs) together for mating.
- verb (intransitive) To come together for mating.
- verb (politics, slang) To engage (oneself) with another of opposite opinions not to vote on a particular question or class of questions.
- verb (intransitive) To suit; to fit, as a counterpart.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To impair, to make worse.
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To become worse, to deteriorate.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
pair of spectacles spectacles duo dyad couple brace twosome duplet twain span yoke couplet distich duet duad pair off partner off match mate twin geminate copulate
Etymology
From Middle English paire, from Old French paire, from Latin paria (“equals”), neuter plural of par (“pair”). Related to pār (“equal”, adjective). Compare Saterland Frisian Poor (“pair”), West Frisian pear (“pair”), Dutch paar (“pair”), German Paar (“pair”), Italian paio (“pair”)
From Middle English pairen, peiren, shortened form of apeiren, empeiren, from Old French empeirier, empoirier, from Late Latin peiōrō.
From the German surname, probably a variant of Baer, from the noun Bär (“bear”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A number of things resembling one another, or belonging together; a set; as, a pair or flight of stairs. "A pair of beads." Chaucer.
- noun Two things of a kind, similar in form, suited to each other, and intended to be used together; as, a pair of gloves or stockings; a pair of shoes.
- verb To be joined in paris; to couple; to mate, as for breeding.
- verb To suit; to fit, as a counterpart.
Etymology [F. paire, LL. paria, L. paria, pl. of par pair, fr. par, adj., equal. Cf. Apparel, Par equality, Peer an equal.]
Etymology [See Impair.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pair”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details