PAIR OFF • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pair off

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/pɛr ɔf/ Listen

verb

Pair v. i. (past & past part. paired; pres. part. pairing)

To be joined in pairs; to couple; to mate, as for breeding.

To suit; to fit, as a counterpart. "My heart was made to fit and pair with thine."

Same as To pair off. See phrase below.

To pair off, to separate from a group in pairs or couples; specif. (Parliamentary Cant), to agree with one of the opposite party or opinion to abstain from voting on specified questions or issues. See Pair, n., 6.

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Etymology of 'Pair off'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pair off" Quotes from Famous Books

... tied neck to neck and heel to heel, the wretches were flung overboard, "because we lack place and wood to crucify you," called the Nausicaae's governor, as he pushed the last pair off into the leaden sea,—for the day was distant when the destruction of such Barbarian rogues would weigh even on ...

— A Victor of Salamis • William Stearns Davis

... circumventing woman suffrage by secretly agreeing to keep it off both programs; but the country itself is too sick of the question to endure this, even if the Women's Liberal Federation and the corresponding Conservative body permitted it. That the parties would go so far as to pair off their women workers against each other is unlikely. At any rate, now, when other forms of agitation are more or less futile, is the moment for these and cognate bodies ...

— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 21 - The Recent Days (1910-1914) • Charles F. Horne, Editor

... it the more. The excursionists will have every opportunity of wandering at will. They will become separated; and there can be no doubt as to how the partition will be made; the older of the two officers will pair off with Dona Carmen, the younger with Dona Inez. Thus, they will ride unmolested, unobserved; converse without fear of being overheard; clasp hands without danger of being seen—perhaps exchange kisses! Oh, the dire, desperate jealousy! Even the dull brain and cold heart of Calderon are fired ...

— The Flag of Distress - A Story of the South Sea • Mayne Reid

... "here is a chance which may pair off with the other! Monsieur Cardinal is indeed a ...

— The Three Musketeers • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... if I may coin a new word to pair off with analgesia," he writes, "has been very little studied, but it exists. A young girl was smitten with a liver disease which for some time altered her constitution. She felt no longer any affection for her father and mother. She would have played ...

— The Varieties of Religious Experience • William James

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