panel

[pan-l]

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noun

a distinct portion, section, or division of a wall, wainscot, ceiling, door, shutter, fence, etc., especially of any surface sunk below or raised above the general level or enclosed by a frame or border.

a comparatively thin, flat piece of wood or the like, as a large piece of plywood.

a group of persons gathered to conduct a public discussion, judge a contest, serve as advisers, be players on a radio or television game, or the like: a panel of political scientists meeting to discuss foreign policy.

a public discussion by such a group.

Law.

a list of persons summoned for service as jurors.
the body of persons composing a jury.
(in Scotland) the person or persons arraigned for trial.

a mount for or a surface or section of a machine containing the controls and dials.

Electricity. a switchboard or control board, or a division of a switchboard or control board containing a set of related cords, jacks, relays, etc.

a broad strip of material set vertically in or on a dress, skirt, etc.

Painting.

a flat piece of wood of varying kinds on which a picture is painted.
a picture painted on such a piece of wood.

(in Britain) a list of approved or cooperating doctors available to patients under a health insurance program.

Aeronautics. a lateral subdivision of an airfoil with internal girder construction.

Engineering, Building Trades.

the space on the chord of a truss between any two adjacent joints made by principal web members with the chord.
the space within the web of a truss between any two such joints and a corresponding pair of joints or a single joint on an opposite chord.

the section between the two bands on the spine of a bound book.

Mining. an area of a coal seam separated for mining purposes from adjacent areas by extra thick masses or ribs of coal.

a pad placed under a saddle.

a pad, cloth, or the like, serving as a saddle.

a pane, as in a window.

a slip of parchment.

a photograph much longer in one dimension than the other.

verb (used with object), pan·eled, pan·el·ing or (especially British) pan·elled, pan·el·ling.

to arrange in or furnish with a panel or panels.

to ornament with a panel or panels.

to set in a frame as a panel.

to select (a jury).

Scots Law. to bring to trial.

Origin of panel

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French panel a piece (of anything), diminutive of pan piece of cloth or the like. See pane, -elle

Related formsre·pan·el, verb (used with object), re·pan·eled, re·pan·el·ing or (especially British) re·pan·elled, re·pan·el·ling.sub·pan·el, nounun·pan·eled, adjectiveun·pan·elled, adjective

Can be confusedboard committee council panel trust

Usage note

See collective noun.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for panel

tribunal, forum, cabinet, commission, bureau, board, jury, group, council, representatives

Examples from the Web for panel

Contemporary Examples of panel

Videos of Quorum: Global LGBT Voices talks and panel discussions will be broadcasted on The Daily Beast in coming months.
A Quorum For Change: The Fight For Global LGBT Equality
Justin Jones
December 11, 2014
A panel of citizens will decide the fate of Officer Wilson rather than law-enforcement professionals or a lone judge.
There’s No Conspiracy in Ferguson’s Secret Jury
Paul Callan
November 17, 2014
In addition to Carolines on Broadway, the panel was organized by NYWIFT and the New York Comedy Festival.
These Women Are Labias-to-the-Wall Funny
Emily Shire
November 7, 2014
Not that the panel was one giant bashing of the male-dominated comedy world.
These Women Are Labias-to-the-Wall Funny
Emily Shire
November 7, 2014
To watch Sarah Crowe in a panel discussion about Ebola at Women in the World Texas on October 22, click here.
The Life of a Liberian Child with Ebola
Sarah Crowe
November 5, 2014

Historical Examples of panel

This time he did not desist until he had broken through the panel.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
Of a sudden, her eyes noted the black lines that lay across the panel of light.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Presently the explosion of a fire-arm was heard; they had shot through the panel.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
She lifted the latch, and set her shoulder against the panel.
Meadow Grass
Alice Brown
He whispered to Charlotte, pointing to a panel of it higher than any one's head.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable

British Dictionary definitions for panel

panel

noun

a flat section of a wall, door, etc

any distinct section or component of something formed from a sheet of material, esp of a car body, the spine of a book, etc

a piece of material inserted in a skirt, dress, etc

a group of persons selected to act as a team in a quiz, to judge a contest, to discuss a topic before an audience, etc
(as modifier)a panel game

a public discussion by such a groupa panel on public health

law

a list of persons summoned for jury service
the persons on a specific jury

Scots law a person indicted or accused of crime after appearing in court

a thin board used as a surface or backing for an oil painting
a painting done on such a surface

any picture with a length much greater than its breadth

See instrument panel

(formerly, in Britain)

a list of patients insured under the National Health Insurance Scheme
a list of medical practitioners within a given area available for consultation by these patients

on the panel British informal receiving sickness benefit, esp from the government

verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled (tr)

to furnish or decorate with panels

to divide into panels

law

to empanel (a jury)
(in Scotland) to bring (a person) to trial; indict

Word Origin for panel

C13: from Old French: portion, from pan piece of cloth, from Latin pannus; see pane 1

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

Word Origin and History for panel

early 14c., from Old French panel "piece of cloth, piece, saddle cushion" (Modern French panneau), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin pannus "piece of cloth" (see pane). Anglo-French legalese sense of "piece of parchment (cloth) listing jurors" led by late 14c. to meaning "jury." General sense of "persons called on to advise, judge, discuss," etc. is from 1570s. Sense of "distinct part of surface of a wall, door, etc." is first recorded c.1600.

mid-15c., "to empanel," from panel (n.). From 1630s as "to furnish (a room) with panels." Related: Paneled; paneling; panelling.