pair
pair
noun
/peə(r)/
two things the same
1 countable pair (of something) two things of the same type, especially when they are used or worn together
a pair of shoes/boots
a pair of gloves/earrings
She pulled on the pair of socks he handed her.
a huge pair of eyes
A pair of hands grasped her shoulders.
a pair of aces/kings (= two playing cards that have the same value)
The winner will receive a pair of tickets to Reykjavik.
The vase is one of a matching pair.
Vermeer painted the two pictures as a pair.
TOPICS Clothes and FashionA1
Collocations Dictionary
adjective
matchingidenticalclean…
preposition
in a/​the pairin pairspair of…
phrases
one of a pair
two parts joined
2 countable pair (of something) an object consisting of two parts that are joined together
a pair of trousers/pants/jeans
a pair of glasses/binoculars/scissors
Buy one pair of glasses and get a second pair free.
He was wearing a nice pair of denim jeans.
TOPICS Clothes and FashionA1
two people
3 countable + singular or plural verb two people who are doing something together or who have a particular relationship
Get pairs of students to act out the dialogue in front of the class.
Get the students to do the exercise as pair work (= two students work together).
(informal) I've had enough of the pair of you!
They might seem an unlikely pair, but they've been friends for years.
Collocations Dictionary
adjective
happyodd
verb + pair
matchmake
preposition
in a/​the pair
two animals/birds
4 ​countable + singular or plural verb two animals or birds of the same type that are producing young together
a breeding pair
a pair of swans
pair bonding (= the process of animals forming a pair for breeding)
Collocations Dictionary
adjective
breedingmatingnesting…
pair + verb
breedmate
preposition
pair of
two horses
5 ​countable two horses working together to pull a carriage
a carriage and pair
Idioms
in pairs
I’ve only got one pair of hands
a pair of hands
a safe pair of hands
pair
verb (pairs, paired, paired, pairing)
/peə(r)/
make groups of two
1 ​transitive, usually passive to put people or things into groups of two
be paired with somebody/something
Each blind student was paired with a sighted student.
be paired (together)
All the shoes on the floor were neatly paired.
of animals/birds
2 ​intransitive (specialist) to come together in order to produce young
Many of the species pair for life.
Phrasal Verbs
pair off
pair up
Word Origin
Middle English: from Old French paire, from Latin paria ‘equal things’, neuter plural of par ‘equal’. Formerly phrases such as a pair of gloves were expressed without of, as in a pair gloves (compare with German ein Paar Handschuhe).