PAIR OFF • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... you, but you are the winnin'est woman alive this day! Now take my advice, an' go home without comin' in. I'm wantin' to get this other pair off o' my hands, as well as I can, an' our best way is to do it all widout noise. ...

— Phelim O'toole's Courtship and Other Stories • William Carleton

... to England, and it was curious to observe how naturally and continuously a certain division of the party was always taking place. Brian and Elizabeth were, of course, a great deal together; it seemed equally inevitable that Percival should pair off with Angela, and that Mrs. Norman, Rupert Vivian, and Mr. Fane should be left to ...

— Under False Pretences - A Novel • Adeline Sergeant

... 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

... hours later, when the pattering of feet in the long corridors died down to a mere trail of sound, that Jane and Judith managed to pair off for a confidential chat. ...

— Jane Allen: Junior • Edith Bancroft

... time he faced the wall he eyed that spire which to him represented the whole town, the whole earth spread beneath the scudding clouds. Noisy groups waxed hot in disputation round the plane-trees; friends would pair off in the corners under the spying glance of some director concealed behind his window-blind. Tennis and skittle matches would be quickly organised to the great discomfort of quiet loto players who lounged on the ground before their cardboard ...

— Abbe Mouret's Transgression - La Faute De L'abbe Mouret • Emile Zola