Wiktionary
vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To separate into groups of two. 2 (context transitive English) To join two people into a relationship. 3 (context intransitive politics dated English) To agree with one of the opposite party or opinion to abstain from voting on specified questions or issues.
WordNet
v. form a pair or pairs; "The two old friends paired off" [syn: pair, partner off, couple]
Usage examples of "pair off".
Didn't it occur to you that he thought that the two of us might pair off?
If they've got to pair off to reproduce, I suppose it's natural that a weaker would tend to gravitate toward a stronger.
That last sentence caught the pair off guard, and confused them for just a moment, until they realized the reference.
After losing four more of his planes this way, the Soviet colonel ordered his surviving planes to pair off and stay paired off.
Besides it would take a couple of us to hold that pair off from one another’.