Syn. -- See Picture.
Paint"less, a. Not capable of being painted or described. "In paintless
patience." Savage.
Pain"ture (?), n. [F. peinture. See Paint, v. t., and cf. Picture.] The
art of painting. [Obs.] Chaucer. Dryden.
Paint"y (?), a. Unskillfully painted, so that the painter's method of
work is too obvious; also, having too much pigment applied to the
surface. [Cant]
Pair (?), n. [F. paire, LL. paria, L. paria, pl. of par pair, fr. par,
adj., equal. Cf. Apparel, Par equality, Peer an equal.]
1. A number of things resembling one another, or belonging together; a
set; as, a pair or flight of stairs. "A pair of beads." Chaucer. Beau.
& Fl. "Four pair of stairs." Macaulay. [Now mostly or quite disused,
except as to stairs.]
Two crowns in my pocket, two pair of cards.
Beau. & Fl.
2. Two things of a kind, similar in form, suited to each other, and
intended to be used together; as, a pair of gloves or stockings; a pair
of shoes.
3. Two of a sort; a span; a yoke; a couple; a brace; as, a pair of
horses; a pair of oxen.
4. A married couple; a man and wife. "A happy pair." Dryden. "The
hapless pair." Milton.
5. A single thing, composed of two pieces fitted to each other and used
together; as, a pair of scissors; a pair of tongs; a pair of bellows.
6. Two members of opposite parties or opinion, as in a parliamentary
body, who mutually agree not to vote on a given question, or on issues
of a party nature during a specified time; as, there were two pairs on
the final vote. [Parliamentary Cant]
7. (Kinematics) In a mechanism, two elements, or bodies, which are so
applied to each other as to mutually constrain relative motion.
Pairs are named in accordance with the kind of motion they permit;
thus, a journal and its bearing form a turning pair, a cylinder and its
piston a sliding pair, a screw and its nut a twisting pair, etc. Any
pair in which the constraining contact is along lines or at points only
(as a cam and roller acting together), is designated a higher pair; any
pair having constraining surfaces which fit each other (as a
cylindrical pin and eye, a screw and its nut, etc.), is called a lower
pair.
Pair royal (pl. Pairs Royal) three things of a sort; -- used especially
of playing cards in some games, as cribbage; as three kings, three
"eight spots" etc. Four of a kind are called a double pair royal.
"Something in his face gave me as much pleasure as a pair royal of
naturals in my own hand." Goldsmith. "That great pair royal of
adamantine sisters [the Fates]." Quarles. [Written corruptly parial and
prial.]
Syn. -- Pair, Flight, Set. Originally, pair was not confined to two
things, but was applied to any number of equal things (pares), that go
together. Ben Jonson speaks of a pair (set) of chessmen; also, he and
Lord Bacon speak of a pair (pack) of cards. A "pair of stairs" is still
in popular use, as well as the later expression, "flight of stairs."
Pair, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Paired (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pairing.] 1. To
be joined in paris; to couple; to mate, as for breeding.