pair / pe(ə)r/ • n. a set of two things used together or regarded as a unit: a pair of gloves. ∎  an article or object consisting of two joined or corresponding parts not used separately: a pair of jeans. ∎  two playing cards of the same denomination: I have a pair of jacks. ∎  two people related in some way or considered together: a company run by a pair of brothers every naughty thing the pair of them did made their faces look worse students work alone or in pairs. ∎  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: nine breeding pairs of birds. ∎  two horses harnessed side by side. ∎  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.• v. [tr.] (often be paired) join or connect to form a pair: a cardigan paired with a matching skirt. ∎  [intr.] (of animals) mate: they bought a rooster to pair with the hen. ∎  [intr.] (pair off/up) form a couple: Rachel has paired up with Tommy. ∎  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: an absent member on one side is to be paired with an absentee on the other.PHRASES: pair of hands a person seen in terms of their participation in a task: we can always do with an extra pair of hands.DERIVATIVES: pair·wise / -ˌwīz/ adj. & adv.