pair

noun

• 1a set of two things used together or regarded as a unit:a pair of gloves three pairs of shoes
• two playing cards of the same denomination: Jacobs had two pairs
• two people related in some way or considered together:a company run by a pair of brothers get out, the pair of you
• the second member of a pair in relation to the first:each course member tries to persuade his pair of the merits of his model
• a mated couple of animals:76 pairs of red kites
• two horses harnessed side by side: she enjoys driving her pair
• either or both of two members of a legislative assembly on opposite sides who absent themselves from voting by mutual arrangement, leaving the relative position of the parties unaffected: one minister was flatly refused a pair by his Tory opposite number

• 2an article consisting of two joined or corresponding parts not used separately:a pair of jeans a pair of scissors

verb

• put together or join to form a pair:a cardigan paired with a matching skirt
• [no object] (of animals) form a pair for breeding purposes:killer whales pair for life
• [no object] (pair off/up) form a romantic or sexual relationship:my friends had paired off and I was the only one playing the field
• give (a member of a legislative assembly) another member as a pair, to allow both to absent themselves from a vote without affecting the result: arrangements are usually made between the party whips for an absent member on one side to be paired with an absentee on the other