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