pigeon pair

noun

A pair of twins, one male and one female.

Meanings

nounpigeon pair (plural pigeon pairs)

plural pigeon pairs

  1. A pair of twins, one male and one female.
  2. Two siblings, one male and one female.

    “He has two kiddies, a pigeon pair.”

    1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 373
    3 more examples

    Oh, please not twins! Just a pigeon-pair, a son and then a daughter.

    2014, Colleen McCullough, Bittersweet, page 71

    Their first child, a son, was Albert Lewis, born 1893, and he became known to all of us who can remember this wonderful man, as Lew Davey. The second child was a daughter, Cora Annie, born 1895. […] There were two other children (both stillborn) and, to quote Lew, “It is sad to remember that what should have been a family of four, ended up a “pigeon pair”.

    2014, Margaret Dwyer, Jewels Along The Newell, page 62

    “I 'ave a wife and pigeon pair,” he said. “What's a pigeon pair?” I asked him. “Don'cher know a pigeon pair? That's one of each. A pigeon pair, we calls it at 'ome.

    2018, Tom Treanor, One Damn Thing After Another

Origin

From a folk belief that pigeons raise two eggs at the same time, a male and a female.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pigeon pair. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeon%20pair

MLA

“pigeon pair.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeon%20pair. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pigeon pair,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeon%20pair.

Source: pigeon pair on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.