Part 16

Paint"er (pnt"r), n. [OE, pantere a noose, snare, F. pantiËre, LL. panthera, L. panther a hunting net, fr. Gr. panqh`ra; pa^s all + qh`r beast; cf. Ir. painteir a net, gin, snare, Gael. painntear.] (Naut.) A rope at the bow of a boat, used to fasten it to anything. Totten.

Paint"er, n. [Corrupt. of panther.] (Zoˆl.) The panther, or puma. [A form representing an illiterate pronunciation, U. S.] J. F. Cooper.

Paint"er, n. [See lst Paint.] One whose occupation is to paint; esp.: (a) One who covers buildings, ships, ironwork, and the like, with paint. (b) An artist who represents objects or scenes in color on a flat surface, as canvas, plaster, or the like.

Painter's colic. (Med.) See Lead colic, under Colic. -- Painter stainer. (a) A painter of coats of arms. Crabb. (b) A member of a livery company or guild in London, bearing this name.

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Paint"er*ly (?), a. Like a painter's work. [Obs.] "A painterly glose of a visage." Sir P. Sidney.

Paint"er*ship, n. The state or position of being a painter. [R.] Br. Gardiner.

Paint"ing, n. 1. The act or employment of laying on, or adorning with, paints or colors.

2. (Fine Arts) The work of the painter; also, any work of art in which objects are represented in color on a flat surface; a colored representation of any object or scene; a picture.

3. Color laid on; paint. [R.] Shak.

4. A depicting by words; vivid representation in words.

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.

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."