pair
verb/peə(r)/
/per/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they pair | /peə(r)/ /per/ |
| he / she / it pairs | /peəz/ /perz/ |
| past simple paired | /peəd/ /perd/ |
| past participle paired | /peəd/ /perd/ |
| -ing form pairing | /ˈpeərɪŋ/ /ˈperɪŋ/ |
- [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.
Homophones pair | pare | pearpair pare pear/peə(r)//per/- pair noun
- He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt.
- pair verb
- The teacher decided to pair able students with those who were struggling.
- pare verb
- They had to pare the novel down for a two-hour film.
- pear noun
- Dessert was a delicious poached pear in red wine.
- [intransitive] (specialist) to come together in order to produce young
- Many of the species pair for life.
make groups of two
of animals/birds
Word OriginMiddle 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).
Check pronunciation:
pair