frying pan

American  

Also fry-pan,

noun

1. a shallow, long-handled pan in which food is fried.

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idioms

1. out of the frying pan into the fire, free of one predicament but immediately in a worse one.

frying pan British  

noun

1. a long-handled shallow pan used for frying

2. from a bad situation to a worse one

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Etymology

Origin of frying pan

1350–1400; Middle English fryinge panne

Compare meaning

How does frying-pan compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• saucepan vs. frying pan

Example Sentences

Yet the country may be launching out of the frying pan and into the fire.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

It quoted a Malian official as saying that Wagner operatives were "worse than the French. They think my men are more stupid than them. We have gone from the frying pan to the fire."

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

Inside Dorothy’s Kansan house, a once-shadowed frying pan on the wall now dangles front and center, as does a digitally added “Home Sweet Home” needlepoint nailed to the threshold.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2025

Now imagine instead of a frying pan, it was the floor beneath you.

From Slate • Aug. 27, 2024

Clayton washed up while Cool Papa threw a pot and a frying pan on the stove.

From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Related Words

• wok