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:
Despite a rich voice and a lifelong passion for sports, pairing the two was something that just happened, not something that was planned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"I'm just over the moon. I'm so, so happy," she said after the pairing, while Kuzmin added that he had "tears of joy" in his eyes.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
As on Friday evening, the last pairing proved critical, with Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier taking on Kupcho and Lindy Duncan.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
Starting Monday, Carney hosts an investment summit that officials have likened to a matchmaking exercise, pairing companies pitching projects with some of the world’s top asset managers responsible for assets totaling over $100 trillion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
It was pretty chocolaty, but I could imagine pairing it with peanut butter.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
Korda in particular set the tone early on Friday with her fifth win with Corpuz, equalling the points record for pairings set by Europe's Alison Nicholas and Laura Davies.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Many of the pairings, including Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz, had never played alongside each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The other pairings - including Britain's number one Henry Patten alongside top-ranked women's player Katerina Siniakova - will have to come through an eight-team qualifying round.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Carolyn Campbell, the former head of clean technology innovation at Meta, and her team oversaw a request-for-proposal process in late 2024 that eventually led to the pairings with Oklo and TerraPower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Parks Canada is also taking advantage of another technological development called stereophotogrammetry, which produces pictures in pairs and then synthesizes hundreds of these pairings to produce extraordinarily clear images of whatever object is being studied.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
