pan Hear it!

pan1 definition

pan (pan)

noun

  1. any of many kinds of containers, usually broad, shallow, without a cover, and made of metal, used for domestic purposes: often in combination a frying pan, saucepan, dishpan
  2. any object or part shaped like a pan; specif.,
    1. ☆ an open container for washing out gold, tin, etc. from gravel or the like, in mining
    2. either receptacle in a pair of scales
    3. a container for heating, evaporating, etc.
  3. the amount a pan will hold
  4. any area suggestive of a pan; esp., a hollow, natural or artificial depression in the ground
  5. a layer of hard soil, impervious to water; hardpan
  6. a small ice floe
  7. the part of a flintlock gun that holds the firing powder
  8. Slang a face

Etymology: ME panne < OE, akin to Ger pfanne, early Gmc loanword < VL panna, prob. < L patina, a pan: see patella

transitive verb panned, panning pan′·ning

  1. to cook in a pan
  2. Informal to criticize unfavorably, as in reviewing to pan a play
  3. Mining
    1. to wash (gravel, etc.) in a pan, as for separating gold
    2. to separate (gold, etc.) from gravel by washing it in a pan

intransitive verb

  1. ☆ to wash gravel in a pan, searching for gold
  2. ☆ to yield gold in this process
pan Idioms

pan out

  1. Mining to yield gold, as gravel, a mine, etc.
  2. Informal to turn out (as specified); transpire; esp., to turn out well; succeed

put on the pan

to criticize severely
pan2 definition

pan (pän)

noun

  1. a leaf of the betel pepper
  2. a substance made of this leaf, betel nut, lime, and spices, used like chewing gum

Etymology: Hindi pān < Sans parṇa, a leaf, feather: see fern

pan3 definition

pan (pan)

transitive verb, intransitive verb panned, panning pan′·ning

to rotate (a camera) horizontally, as to get a panoramic effect or follow a moving object

Etymology: < pan(orama)

noun

  1. the act of panning
  2. a shot that is panned
Pan1 definition

Pan (pan)

noun

Gr. Myth. a god of fields, forests, wild animals, flocks, and shepherds, represented as having the legs (and, sometimes, horns and ears) of a goat: identified with the Roman Faunus

Etymology: L < Gr

Pan2 definition

Pan

Panama
PAN definition

PAN

peroxyacetyl nitrate

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (2)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
English 'paddle'; French poêle 'frying pan'74 years ago
flash in the pan167 years ago

Browse Forums