pan

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

a broad, shallow container of metal, usually having sides flaring outward toward the top, used in various forms for frying, baking, washing, etc.

any similar receptacle or part, as the scales of a balance.

the amount a pan holds or can hold; panful: a pan of shelled peas.

any of various open or closed containers used in industrial or mechanical processes.

a container in which silver ores are ground and amalgamated.

a container in which gold or other heavy, valuable metals are separated from gravel or other substances by agitation with water.

a drifting piece of flat, thin ice, as formed on a shore or bay.

a natural depression in the ground, as one containing water, mud, or mineral salts.

a similar depression made artificially, as for evaporating salt water to make salt.

(in old guns) the depressed part of the lock, holding the priming.

Also panning. an unfavorable review, critique, or appraisal: The show got one rave and three pans.

Slang. the face.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

Informal. to criticize severely, as in a review of a play.

to wash (gravel, sand, etc.) in a pan to separate gold or other heavy valuable metal.

to cook (oysters, clams, etc.) in a pan.

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

to wash gravel, sand, etc., in a pan in seeking gold or the like.

to yield gold or the like, as gravel washed in a pan.

Verb Phrases

pan out, Informal. to turn out, especially successfully: The couple's reconciliation just didn't pan out.

Origin of pan

before 900; Middle English, Old English panne; cognate with Dutch pan, German Pfanne, Old Norse panna

OTHER WORDS FROM pan

pan·ner, noun

Words nearby pan

pampoen, pampootie, pamprodactylous, pamuk, pamyat, pan, pan american games, pan american union, pan and scan, pan and tilt head, pan gravy

Definition for pan (2 of 10)

pan ²

[ pahn ]

/ pɑn /

noun

the leaf of the betel.

a substance, especially betel nut or a betel-nut mixture, used for chewing.

Origin of pan

1610–20; < Hindi pān; compare Pali, Prakrit paṇṇa, Sanskrit parṇa leaf, betel leaf

Definition for pan (3 of 10)

pan ³

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

to photograph or televise while rotating a camera on its vertical or horizontal axis in order to keep a moving person or object in view or allow the film to record a panorama: to pan from one end of the playing field to the other during the opening of the football game.

(of a camera) to be moved or manipulated in such a manner: The cameras panned occasionally during the scene.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

to move (a camera) in such a manner: to pan the camera across the scene.

to photograph or televise (a scene, moving character, etc.) by panning the camera.

noun

the act of panning a camera.

Also called panning shot. the filmed shot resulting from this.

Origin of pan

First recorded in 1920–25; shortening of panorama

Definition for pan (4 of 10)

pan ⁴

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

a major vertical division of a wall.

a nogged panel of half-timber construction.

Origin of pan

⁴

1735–45; < French, Middle French: pane

Definition for pan (5 of 10)

pan ⁵

[ pahn ]

/ pɑn /

noun Informal.

panguingue.

Origin of pan

⁵

by shortening

Definition for pan (6 of 10)

pan ⁶

[ pahn ]

/ pɑn /

pan-pan.

Definition for pan (7 of 10)

Pan

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

the ancient Greek god of forests, pastures, flocks, and shepherds, represented with the head, chest, and arms of a man and the legs and sometimes the horns and ears of a goat.

Definition for pan (8 of 10)

pan-pan

[ pahn-pahn ]

/ ˈpɑnˈpɑn /

noun

an international distress signal used by shore stations to inform a ship, aircraft, etc., of something vital to its safety or to the safety of one of its passengers.

Sometimes pan [pahn] /pɑn/.

Origin of pan-pan

reduplication and alteration of French panne ‘breakdown, failure’

Definition for pan (9 of 10)

Pan.

Panama.

Definition for pan (10 of 10)

pan-

a combining form meaning “all,” occurring originally in loanwords from Greek (panacea; panoply), but now used freely as a general formative (panleukopenia; panorama; pantelegraph; pantheism; pantonality), and especially in terms, formed at will, implying the union of all branches of a group (Pan-Christian; Panhellenic; Pan-Slavism). The hyphen and the second capital tend with longer use to be lost, unless they are retained in order to set off clearly the component parts.

Also pant-, panto-.

Origin of pan-

< Greek pan- combining form of pâs (neuter pân) all, every, pân everything

Example sentences from the Web for pan

Remove the roast from the pan and let rest for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries |Carla Hall |December 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Once hot, add the shallots, apples, cranberries, and remaining cranberry juice to the pan.

Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries |Carla Hall |December 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Add olive oil to the pan and toss in the garlic and chili flake.

Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries |Carla Hall |December 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Pan American Airways thought enough of the destination to finance one of the hotel-casinos just off the Malecon.

Will Hyman Roth Return to Havana With Normalized Relations? |John L. Smith |December 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Pan Am was granted landing rights at Camp Colombia, an army base near Havana.

Goodbye, Bahamas. Hello, Havana! |Clive Irving |December 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
There's a ten cent piece on the bottom of that pan and you've got to pick it up with your lips without using your hands to help.

Hallowe'en at Merryvale |Alice Hale Burnett
You just run right into your study, Mr. Elliot, and finish your sermon; and there's a pan of hot doughnuts on the kitchen table.

An Alabaster Box |Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and Florence Morse Kingsley
When a cake is thoroughly baked it shrinks from the sides of the pan.

New Royal Cook Book |Anonymous
This swinging in the pan dissolves the flavor, which solidifies in the bottom of the pan; it greatly improves the sauce.

American Cookery |Various
Spread in pan, mix together two tablespoonfuls flour, four tablespoonfuls sugar, one heaping tablespoonful cinnamon or chocolate.

The Community Cook Book |Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for pan (1 of 6)

pan ¹

/ (pæn) /

noun

a wide metal vessel used in cooking
(in combination)saucepan

Also called: panful the amount such a vessel will hold

any of various similar vessels used esp in industry, as for boiling liquids

a dish used by prospectors, esp gold prospectors, for separating a valuable mineral from the gravel or earth containing it by washing and agitating

either of the two dishlike receptacles on a balance

Also called: lavatory pan British the bowl of a lavatory

a natural or artificial depression in the ground where salt can be obtained by the evaporation of brine
a natural depression containing water or mud

Caribbean the indented top from an oil drum used as the treble drum in a steel band

See hardpan, brainpan

a small ice floe

a slang word for face (def. 1a)

a small cavity containing priming powder in the locks of old guns

a hard substratum of soil

short for pan loaf

verb pans, panning or panned

(when tr, often foll by off or out) to wash (gravel) in a pan to separate particles of (valuable minerals) from it

(intr often foll by out) (of gravel) to yield valuable minerals by this process

(tr) informal to criticize harshly the critics panned his new play

Word Origin for pan

Old English panne; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse panna, Old High German pfanna

British Dictionary definitions for pan (2 of 6)

pan ²

/ (pæn) /

verb pans, panning or panned

to move (a film camera) or (of a film camera) to be moved so as to follow a moving object or obtain a panoramic effect

noun

the act of panning
(as modifier)a pan shot

Word Origin for pan

C20: shortened from panoramic

British Dictionary definitions for pan (3 of 6)

pan ³

paan (pɑːn)

/ (pæn) /

noun

the leaf of the betel tree

a preparation of this leaf which is chewed, together with betel nuts and lime, in India and the East Indies

Word Origin for pan

C17: from Hindi, from Sanskrit parna feather, wing, leaf

British Dictionary definitions for pan (4 of 6)

Pan

/ (pæn) /

noun

Greek myth the god of fields, woods, shepherds, and flocks, represented as a man with a goat's legs, horns, and ears Related adjectives: Pandean, Panic

British Dictionary definitions for pan (5 of 6)

pan-

combining form

all or every panchromatic

including or relating to all parts or members Pan-African; pantheistic

Word Origin for pan-

from Greek pan, neuter of pas all

British Dictionary definitions for pan (6 of 6)

Pan.

abbreviation for

Panama

Medical definitions for pan

pan-

pref.

All:panagglutinins.

General; whole:panimmunity.

Cultural definitions for pan

Pan

The Greek god of flocks, forests, meadows, and shepherds. He had the horns and feet of a goat. Pan frolicked about the landscape, playing delightful tunes.

notes for Pan

Pan's musical instrument was a set of reed pipes, the “pipes of Pan.”

notes for Pan

According to legend, Pan was the source of scary noises in the wilderness at night. Fright at these noises was called “panic.”

Idioms and Phrases with pan

pan

In addition to the idiom beginning with pan

pan out

also see:

flash in the pan
out of the frying pan

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

pan

noun

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

Verb Phrases

Origin of pan

OTHER WORDS FROM pan

Words nearby pan

Definition for pan (2 of 10)

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (3 of 10)

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (4 of 10)

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (5 of 10)

noun Informal.

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (6 of 10)

Definition for pan (7 of 10)

noun

Definition for pan (8 of 10)

noun

Origin of pan-pan

Definition for pan (9 of 10)

Definition for pan (10 of 10)

Origin of pan-

Words related to pan

Example sentences from the Web for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (1 of 6)

noun

verb pans, panning or panned

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (2 of 6)

verb pans, panning or panned

noun

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (3 of 6)

paan (pɑːn)

noun

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (4 of 6)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for pan (5 of 6)

combining form

Word Origin for pan-

British Dictionary definitions for pan (6 of 6)

abbreviation for

Medical definitions for pan

pref.

Cultural definitions for pan

notes for Pan

notes for Pan

Idioms and Phrases with pan