Found 1 items, similar to twisting pair.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: twisting pair
Pair
\Pair\ (p[^a]r), n. [F. paire, LL. paria, L. paria, pl. of
par pair, fr. par, adj., equal. Cf.
Apparel,
Par
equality,
Peer an equal.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
Note: [Now mostly or quite disused.]
[1913 Webster]
Two crowns in my pocket, two pair of cards.
--Beau. & Fl.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
3. Two of a sort; a span; a yoke; a couple; a brace; as, a
pair of horses; a pair of oxen.
[1913 Webster]
4. A married couple; a man and wife.
“A happy pair.”
--Dryden.
“The hapless pair.” --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
5. A single thing, composed of two pieces fitted to each
other and used together; as, a pair of scissors; a pair of
pants; a pair of tongs; a pair of bellows.
[1913 Webster]
6. Two members of opposite parties or opinion, as in a
parliamentary body, who mutually agree not to vote on a
given question (in order, for example, to allow the
members to be absent during the vote without affecting the
outcome of the vote), or on issues of a party nature
during a specified time; as, there were two pairs on the
final vote. [Parliamentary Cant]
Note: A member who is thus paired with one who would have
voted oppositely is said to be paired for or paired
against a measure, depending on the member's position.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
7. (Kinematics) In a mechanism, two elements, or bodies,
which are so applied to each other as to mutually
constrain relative motion.
[1913 Webster]
Note: 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.
[1913 Webster]
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.]
[1913 Webster]
Syn:
Pair,
Flight,
Set.
Usage: 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.”
[1913 Webster]