pairing
Americannoun
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pairings
plural
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a coupling.
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Cell Biology. the lining up of the two homologous chromosomes or chromatids of each chromosome pair in meiosis or mitosis.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pairing
Explanation
A pairing is a match between two things or people, like the perfect pairing of chocolate and peanut butter. Use this noun for two folks who work together as a perfect unit, like the pairing of your baseball team's pitcher and catcher, or two things that seem made for each other, like the classic pairing of grilled cheese and tomato soup. You can also describe the act of sorting people into pairs this way: "Our family's secret Santa pairing meant that I had to buy a gift for my great uncle again."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We’re not pairing the bra tops with underwear—but with pants,” said Haley Palese, who runs merchandising for Aerie and its sister chain Offline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Publicis is pairing AI-powered marketing with strong client retention, growing free cash flow, and a major data acquisition.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Yet surely no-one inside the club would have expected the teenage duo to be the centre-back pairing for most of Liverpool's opening pre-season fixture.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“YouTube Premium brings your favorite creators, artists and cultural moments together uninterrupted, and now, we’re pairing that ultimate viewing experience with Peacock’s expansive lineup of live sports.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The ‘diabolical’ sound produced by F and B, a distance known as a tritone, is likewise produced by pairing Bt and E, E and A#, C and Gl>, and all the other possible tritones.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Tomato and soy are one of those quietly brilliant flavor pairings that seem to pop up everywhere once you start looking for them.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
He describes how scientists in the 1970s found around 15% of Western gulls formed same-sex pairings - a discovery that sparked a moral panic and even threats to defund their research.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
So at first, the idea centered on unusual pairings at U.S. food festivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Think of James Fenimore Cooper’s Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook, Herman Melville’s Ishmael and Queequeg, Twain’s Huck and Jim—or even the black-and-white buddy pairings common to Hollywood action movies of the 1980s and after.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
A letter finally arrived in early December that announced the pairings.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
