How does xargs handle odd numbers of arguments when using the -n option?

When using the -n option with xargs, if the total number of arguments is odd, the last command execution will process the remaining argument alone.

For example, if you have a list of 5 items and you specify -n 2, xargs will execute the command in the following way:

1. The first command will process the first 2 items.
2. The second command will process the next 2 items.
3. The last command will process the remaining 1 item.

Here's a quick illustration:

echo -e "item1\nitem2\nitem3\nitem4\nitem5" | xargs -n 2 echo "Processing:"

Output:

Processing: item1 item2
Processing: item3 item4
Processing: item5

In this case, item5 is processed alone because there are no more items to pair it with.