mate vs pair

mate

noun
  • The other member of a matched pair of objects. 

  • Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age. 

  • A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice. 

  • A breeding partner. 

  • In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc). 

  • A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship. 

  • A suitable companion; a match; an equal. 

  • A first mate. 

  • A friend, usually of the same sex. 

  • A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. 

  • The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea 

verb
  • To arrange in matched pairs. 

  • To copulate with. 

  • To match, fit together without space between. 

  • To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding. 

  • To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with. 

  • To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it. 

  • To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc. 

  • To copulate. 

  • To marry; to match (a person). 

  • To pair in order to raise offspring. 

  • To fit (objects) together without space between. 

pair

noun
  • One of the constituent items that make up a pair. 

  • A couple of working animals attached to work together, as by a yoke. 

  • A boat for two sweep rowers. 

  • A score of zero runs (a duck) in both innings of a two-innings match. 

  • Used with binary nouns (often in the plural to indicate multiple instances, since such nouns are plural only, except in some technical contexts) 

  • A double play, two outs recorded in one play. 

  • The exclusion of one member of a parliamentary party from a vote, if a member of the other party is absent for important personal reasons. 

  • Two similar or identical things taken together; often followed by of. 

  • 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. 

  • In a mechanism, two elements, or bodies, which are so applied to each other as to mutually constrain relative motion; named in accordance with the motion it permits, as in turning pair, sliding pair, twisting pair. 

  • A doubleheader, two games played on the same day between the same teams 

  • A poker hand that contains two cards of identical rank, which cannot also count as a better hand. 

  • A pair of breasts 

  • A pair of testicles 

  • Two people in a relationship, partnership or friendship. 

verb
  • To engage (oneself) with another of opposite opinions not to vote on a particular question or class of questions. 

  • To group into one or more sets of two. 

  • To bring two (animals, notably dogs) together for mating. 

  • To suit; to fit, as a counterpart. 

  • To come together for mating. 

  • to link two electronic devices wirelessly together, especially through a protocol such as Bluetooth 

How often have the words mate and pair occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )