| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈpairing, vbl. n.1
[f. pair v.1 + -ing1.]
a. The action of pair v.1 in various senses. (For quots. 1915, 1969 cf. pair n.1 4 f.) Also with off and up.
1611Cotgr., Appariation, a matching, or pairing. 1792J. Pearson Political Dict. 40 Pairing-off. Two Sneaking Scoundrels, not worth a piece of dog's meat to either party. 1838Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVI. 733/1 The instinct of pairing is bestowed on every species of animals to which it is necessary for rearing their young, and on no other species. 1851H. Martineau Hist. Peace v. v. (1877) III. 259 The custom of pairing in the Commons. 1897A. Firth Cane Basket Work ii. 18 To begin by pairing, place each weaver singly behind two consecutive spokes. Ibid. vii. 60 This last inch may be all ‘pairing’..if preferred, but if woven in the ordinary way, a row or two of pairing must form the edge. 1900Daily News 12 June 8/4 The pairings in the thirteenth round of the [Chess] tournament..are as follows [etc.]. 1901M. White How to make Baskets i. 6 Pairing may be used either with an odd or even number of spokes. 1908Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 14/3 The question of pairing-up arose, and the other [tennis] players naturally awaited the Prince's choice. 1909E. Strasburger in A. C. Seward Darwin & Mod. Sci. vi. 109 Attention was drawn to the fact that during the reducing division of nuclei which contain chromosomes of unequal size, gemini are constantly produced by the pairing of chromosomes of the same size. This led to the conclusion that the pairing chromosomes are homologous, and that one comes from the father, the other from the mother. 1915R. F. McKay Theory of Machines viii. 89 Line contact is undesirable..in lower pairing. 1926J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 175 In herons and egrets..it is not the male who seeks out territory long before pairing-up, but pairing-up occurs on the communal feeding-grounds. 1939Auk LVI. 265 No bond in the strict sense of the word, that is a pairing off, is formed. 1953N. Tinbergen Herring Gull's World xii. 105 Settling upon a territory will not occur until after pairing-up. 1955A. W. Boother Basketry for Beginners 13 Reverse pairing, used in conjunction with pairing, makes an attractive decoration for a basket... Reverse pairing is also used on cane bottoms and lids of baskets. 1958B. Hamilton Too Much of Water ix. 204 It was, indeed, a day of pairings-off. Annie Maxwell and Fred Upcher seemed to have settled for one another's company. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts x. 146 Pairing was done with two rods woven simultaneously so that they crossed between the stakes to produce an effect similar to twined weave. 1965D. Lack Life of Robin (ed. 4) v. 65 Tradition assigns St. Valentine's Day for the pairing up of wild birds. 1969G. D. Redford et al. Mech. Technol. ii. 24 In higher pairing, contact is usually along a line or at a point, and the motion is that of, or equivalent to, rolling. 1970Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. x. 326 The result of this process, which is known as synapsis or zygotene pairing, is that there is now a haploid number of chromosome pairs, which are called bivalents. 1971Sci. Amer. Sept. 89/3 Light absorbed by a molecule kicks one of the electrons associated with the molecule into an excited energy state, thereby making the electron available for pairing with an electron from a neighbouring atom or molecule in an electron-pair bond.
b. attrib. and Comb., as pairing-call, a call used by birds during the mating season; pairing-desk, a desk in the House of Commons at which members arrange pairs; pairing-season, -time, the season at which birds pair; the age at which the sexes begin to pair off; also transf.
1911J. A. Thomson Biol. Seasons ii. 149 The long-drawn-out, modulated pairing-call of many of the waders..is on the border-line.
1899Daily News 24 Apr. 7/3 Seeing him approach the pairing desk, I asked, ‘Do you want to go away, Sir John?’
1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xii, Does the bird know why its feathers grow more brilliant..in the pairing season?
1742W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman July xvi. 85 Every Pheasant..that can be proved to be in the Mannor at Pairing-time. 1795Cowper (title) Pairing time anticipated. 1850Punch 10 Aug. 62/2 Parliamentary Almanack.—Latter end of July, ‘pairing’ time begins. 1867O. W. Holmes in Atlantic Almanac 1868 2/2 On the 14th of February the windows fill with pictures for the most part odious, and meant for some nondescript class of males and females, their allusions having reference to Saint Valentine's day, the legendary pairing-time of the birds.
▪ II. † pairing, vbl. n.2 Obs.
[f. pair v.2 + -ing1.]
Injury, damage, impairment.
1382Wyclif Matt. xvi. 26 What profitiþ it to a man, ȝif he wynne al þe world, trewly he suffre peyrynge of his soule? a1500Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) 251 He should..suffer her not to come him nere, for payring of his fame. c1617Earl of Somerset Let. to K. Jas. in Cabala (1654) 3 That which is so little, as that it will suffer no pairing, or diminution. |