noun
- 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
- any object or part shaped like a pan; specif.,
- ☆ an open container for washing out gold, tin, etc. from gravel or the like, in mining
- either receptacle in a pair of scales
- a container for heating, evaporating, etc.
- the amount a pan will hold
- any area suggestive of a pan; esp., a hollow, natural or artificial depression in the ground
- a layer of hard soil, impervious to water; hardpan
- a small ice floe
- the part of a flintlock gun that holds the firing powder
- ☆ Slang a face
Origin:
ME panne < OE, akin to Ger pfanne, early Gmc loanword < VL panna, prob. < L patina, a pan: see patella
transitive verb panned, panning
- to cook in a pan
- ☆ Informal to criticize unfavorably, as in reviewing: to pan a play
- ☆ Mining
- to wash (gravel, etc.) in a pan, as for separating gold
- to separate (gold, etc.) from gravel by washing it in a pan