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Synonyms

pan out

British  

verb

  1. informal (intr, adverb) to work out; turn out; result

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
pan out Idioms  

  1. Turn out well, succeed, as in If I don't pan out as a musician, I can always go back to school. This expression alludes to washing gold from gravel in a pan. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

During its fourth-quarter earnings call in January, the company said it expects Chinese sales to comprise only 20% of 2026 sales, though it made a similar prediction about 2025 that did not pan out.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Unless peace talks pan out fast, traders say high prices for specific Mideast crude cargoes will soon cascade to the U.S. and elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

When that didn’t pan out, he pitched what would eventually become “Survivor,” developing it with Buena Vista in hopes of selling it to ABC.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

This auditioning might pan out for individual judges, but it’s a profound problem for the judiciary.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

She put the balls in a pan out in the shed, where they would freeze and be good to eat all winter.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.