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panel

[pan-l]
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noun
  1. 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.
  2. a comparatively thin, flat piece of wood or the like, as a large piece of plywood.
  3. 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.
  4. a public discussion by such a group.
  5. Law.
    1. a list of persons summoned for service as jurors.
    2. the body of persons composing a jury.
    3. (in Scotland) the person or persons arraigned for trial.
  6. a mount for or a surface or section of a machine containing the controls and dials.
  7. Electricity. a switchboard or control board, or a division of a switchboard or control board containing a set of related cords, jacks, relays, etc.
  8. a broad strip of material set vertically in or on a dress, skirt, etc.
  9. Painting.
    1. a flat piece of wood of varying kinds on which a picture is painted.
    2. a picture painted on such a piece of wood.
  10. (in Britain) a list of approved or cooperating doctors available to patients under a health insurance program.
  11. Aeronautics. a lateral subdivision of an airfoil with internal girder construction.
  12. Engineering, Building Trades.
    1. the space on the chord of a truss between any two adjacent joints made by principal web members with the chord.
    2. 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.
  13. the section between the two bands on the spine of a bound book.
  14. Mining. an area of a coal seam separated for mining purposes from adjacent areas by extra thick masses or ribs of coal.
  15. a pad placed under a saddle.
  16. a pad, cloth, or the like, serving as a saddle.
  17. a pane, as in a window.
  18. a slip of parchment.
  19. a photograph much longer in one dimension than the other.
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verb (used with object), pan·eled, pan·el·ing or (especially British) pan·elled, pan·el·ling.
  1. to arrange in or furnish with a panel or panels.
  2. to ornament with a panel or panels.
  3. to set in a frame as a panel.
  4. to select (a jury).
  5. Scots Law. to bring to trial.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for panel

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. a flat section of a wall, door, etc
  2. any distinct section or component of something formed from a sheet of material, esp of a car body, the spine of a book, etc
  3. a piece of material inserted in a skirt, dress, etc
    1. 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
    2. (as modifier)a panel game
  5. a public discussion by such a groupa panel on public health
  6. law
    1. a list of persons summoned for jury service
    2. the persons on a specific jury
  7. Scots law a person indicted or accused of crime after appearing in court
    1. a thin board used as a surface or backing for an oil painting
    2. a painting done on such a surface
  9. any picture with a length much greater than its breadth
  10. See instrument panel
  11. (formerly, in Britain)
    1. a list of patients insured under the National Health Insurance Scheme
    2. a list of medical practitioners within a given area available for consultation by these patients
  12. on the panel British informal receiving sickness benefit, esp from the government
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verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled (tr)
  1. to furnish or decorate with panels
  2. to divide into panels
  3. law
    1. to empanel (a jury)
    2. (in Scotland) to bring (a person) to trial; indict
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Word Origin

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

n.

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.

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v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper