Pair

From Old French paire, from Latin paria ("equals"), neuter plural of pÄr.

Full definition of pair

(plural pairs or pair)

2013-06-14, Jonathan Freedland, Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.

I couldn't decide which of the pair of designer shirts I preferred, so I bought the pair.
Two people in a relationship, partnership (especially sexual) or friendship.
Spouses should make a great pair.
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
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.
(cards) A poker hand that contains of two cards of identical rank, which cannot also count as a better hand.
(cricket) A score of zero runs (a duck) in both innings of a two-innings match
(baseball, informal) A double play, two outs recorded in one play
They turned a pair to end the fifth.
(baseball, informal) A doubleheader, two games played on the same day between the same teams
The Pirates took a pair from the Phillies.
(slang) A pair of breasts
She's got a gorgeous pair.
(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.
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.
(archaic) A number of things resembling one another, or belonging together; a set.

Charles Dickensplunging myself into poverty and shabbiness and love in one room up three pair of stairs
Beaumont and FletcherTwo crowns in my pocket, two pair of cards.

(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.

The wedding guests were paired boy/girl and groom's party/bride's party. this is "pair off": # To find a partner for.
To separate a group into sets of two.
(transitive) To bring two (animals, notably dogs) together for mating.
(politics, slang) To engage (oneself) with another of opposite opinions not to vote on a particular question or class of questions.
(intransitive) To suit; to fit, as a counterpart.