a partnership between a mating couple that lasts through one season, serving primarily in the cooperative rearing of young.
the couple that forms such a partnership.
First recorded in 1935–40
First recorded in 1940–45
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many dogs will be ill-equipped to survive, not having had any lived experiences of obtaining their own food, finding shelter, or forming a workable pair bond.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2022
The pair bond over a Proustian remembrance of praying mantises.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2021
“There’s something about forming a pair bond that changes these male prairie voles’ ability to recognize others.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 3, 2015
He notes that in the monogamous prairie voles he studies, males that have a pair bond can actually be hostile to other females.
From Time ● Nov. 27, 2013
Redtails are said to “mate for life,” but as with couples of other species, their pair bond comes and goes.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2011
Romantic love is a complex emotion thought to have ancient roots in human evolution, and associated with the need to pair-bond in stable relationships.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2020
A. m. maritima is monogamous, the pair-bond being maintained throughout a breeding cycle.
From Comparative Breeding Behavior of Ammospiza caudacuta and A. maritima by Woolfenden, Glen E.
However, each ritualized display seemingly strengthens the pair-bond.
From Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii Audubon by Barlow, Jon C.
This, in combination with perpetual song as he works, serves to strengthen the pair-bond and stimulate nestbuilding tendencies of the female.
From Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii Audubon by Barlow, Jon C.
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.
