pan

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

a broad, shallow container of metal, usually having sides flaring outward toward the top, used in various forms for frying, baking, washing, etc.

any similar receptacle or part, as the scales of a balance.

the amount a pan holds or can hold; panful: a pan of shelled peas.

any of various open or closed containers used in industrial or mechanical processes.

a container in which silver ores are ground and amalgamated.

a container in which gold or other heavy, valuable metals are separated from gravel or other substances by agitation with water.

a drifting piece of flat, thin ice, as formed on a shore or bay.

a natural depression in the ground, as one containing water, mud, or mineral salts.

a similar depression made artificially, as for evaporating salt water to make salt.

(in old guns) the depressed part of the lock, holding the priming.

Also panning. an unfavorable review, critique, or appraisal: The show got one rave and three pans.

Slang. the face.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

Informal. to criticize severely, as in a review of a play.

to wash (gravel, sand, etc.) in a pan to separate gold or other heavy valuable metal.

to cook (oysters, clams, etc.) in a pan.

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

to wash gravel, sand, etc., in a pan in seeking gold or the like.

to yield gold or the like, as gravel washed in a pan.

Verb Phrases

pan out, Informal. to turn out, especially successfully: The couple's reconciliation just didn't pan out.

QUIZZES

THIS PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ IS PERFECT PRACTICE FOR THE REAL TEST

In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?

Question 1 of 10

seclusion

a false belief or opinion.

the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.

the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pan

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English panne; cognate with Dutch pan, German Pfanne, Old Norse panna; further origin uncertain, perhaps from assumed Vulgar Latin patna, panna “pan,” from Latin patena, patina “shallow dish, shallow pan, stewpan,” from Greek patánē “dish, flat dish.” Pan, in the sense “face,” is an Americanism first recorded in 1920–25; see origin at paten

OTHER WORDS FROM pan

panner, noun

Definition for pan (2 of 8)

pan²

[ pahn ]

/ pɑn /

noun

the leaf of the betel.

a substance, especially betel nut or a betel-nut mixture, used for chewing.

Origin of pan

First recorded in 1610–20; from Hindi pān; compare Pali, Prakrit paṇṇa, Sanskrit parṇa “leaf, betel leaf”

Definition for pan (3 of 8)

pan³

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

to photograph or televise while rotating a camera on its vertical or horizontal axis in order to keep a moving person or object in view or allow the film to record a panorama: to pan from one end of the playing field to the other during the opening of the football game.

(of a camera) to be moved or manipulated in such a manner: The cameras panned occasionally during the scene.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

to move (a camera) in such a manner: to pan the camera across the scene.

to photograph or televise (a scene, moving character, etc.) by panning the camera.

noun

the act of panning a camera.

Also called panning shot. the filmed shot resulting from this.

Origin of pan

First recorded in 1920–25; shortening of panorama

Definition for pan (4 of 8)

pan⁴

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

a major vertical division of a wall.

a nogged panel of half-timber construction.

Origin of pan

⁴

First recorded in 1735–45; from French, Middle French; see origin at pane

Definition for pan (5 of 8)

pan⁵

[ pahn ]

/ pɑn /

noun Informal.

panguingue.

Origin of pan

⁵

First recorded in 1935–40; by shortening

Definition for pan (6 of 8)

Pan

[ pan ]

/ pæn /

noun

the ancient Greek god of forests, pastures, flocks, and shepherds, represented with the head, chest, and arms of a man and the legs and sometimes the horns and ears of a goat.

Definition for pan (7 of 8)

pan-

a combining form meaning “all,” occurring originally in loanwords from Greek (panacea; panoply), but now used freely as a general formative (panleukopenia; panorama; pantelegraph; pantheism; pantonality), and especially in terms, formed at will, implying the union of all branches of a group (Pan-Christian; Panhellenic; Pan-Slavism). The hyphen and the second capital tend with longer use to be lost, unless they are retained in order to set off clearly the component parts.

Also pant-, panto- .

Origin of pan-

<Greek pan- combining form of pâs (neuter pân) all, every, pân everything

Definition for pan (8 of 8)

Pan.

abbreviation

Panama.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for pan

“The people are outraged, everyone is on his balcony, beating pots and pans” in protests, he said.
Turkey Faces More Strife After Erdogan’s Election Win|Thomas Seibert|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her first job was as a “kitchen boy,” carrying pots and pans to Makalu.
Breaking Mount Everest’s Glass Ceiling|Amanda Padoan, Peter Zuckerman|March 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There were two cars, so the camera sees one taxi go under the bridge, then it pans and sees another car drive up to the station.
Ralph Fiennes Discusses ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ J. Lo, and That ‘Seinfeld’ Episode|Marlow Stern|March 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
However it pans out, this miserable shutdown is not going to help their cause.
America’s Women Hate the Government Shutdown, Blame Republicans|Michelle Cottle|October 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST

If it pans out, this would mark one of the rare occurrences that Galliano participates in a long interview.
Rihanna Reportedly Sues Topshop; John Galliano May Participate in a TV Interview with Charlie Rose|The Fashion Beast Team|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To go back to The Pans and take up my old life there, when all these six years my eyes have been centred on this night!
What Every Woman Knows|James M. Barrie
The revolt, which began on the morning of the 23rd of June, was conducted as no revolt in Pans had ever been conducted before.
History of Modern Europe 1972-1878|C. A. Fyffe
From the dark outside he brought in other pans of clean frozen snow, which he had carefully prepared against this moment.
The Hills of Desire|Richard Aumerle Maher
To remove bread or cake from pans, apply wet cloth to bottom of pan.
Stevenson Memorial Cook Book|Various
Sow thinly in pots or pans filled with ordinary light rich compost, and cover the seed with a mere sprinkling of fine earth.
The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition|Sutton and Sons

British Dictionary definitions for pan (1 of 6)

pan¹

/ (pæn) /

noun

a wide metal vessel used in cooking
(in combination)saucepan

Also called: panful the amount such a vessel will hold

any of various similar vessels used esp in industry, as for boiling liquids

a dish used by prospectors, esp gold prospectors, for separating a valuable mineral from the gravel or earth containing it by washing and agitating

either of the two dishlike receptacles on a balance

Also called: lavatory pan British the bowl of a lavatory

a natural or artificial depression in the ground where salt can be obtained by the evaporation of brine
a natural depression containing water or mud

Caribbean the indented top from an oil drum used as the treble drum in a steel band

See hardpan, brainpan

a small ice floe

a slang word for face (def. 1a)

a small cavity containing priming powder in the locks of old guns

a hard substratum of soil

short for pan loaf

verb pans, panning or panned

(when tr, often foll by off or out) to wash (gravel) in a pan to separate particles of (valuable minerals) from it

(intr often foll by out) (of gravel) to yield valuable minerals by this process

(tr) informal to criticize harshlythe critics panned his new play

Word Origin for pan

Old English panne; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse panna, Old High German pfanna

British Dictionary definitions for pan (2 of 6)

pan²

/ (pæn) /

verb pans, panning or panned

to move (a film camera) or (of a film camera) to be moved so as to follow a moving object or obtain a panoramic effect

noun

the act of panning
(as modifier)a pan shot

Word Origin for pan

C20: shortened from panoramic

British Dictionary definitions for pan (3 of 6)

pan³

paan (pɑːn)

/ (pæn) /

noun

the leaf of the betel tree

a preparation of this leaf which is chewed, together with betel nuts and lime, in India and the East Indies

Word Origin for pan

C17: from Hindi, from Sanskrit parna feather, wing, leaf

British Dictionary definitions for pan (4 of 6)

Pan

/ (pæn) /

noun

Greek myth the god of fields, woods, shepherds, and flocks, represented as a man with a goat's legs, horns, and earsRelated adjectives: Pandean, Panic

British Dictionary definitions for pan (5 of 6)

pan-

combining form

all or everypanchromatic

including or relating to all parts or membersPan-African; pantheistic

Word Origin for pan-

from Greek pan, neuter of pas all

British Dictionary definitions for pan (6 of 6)

Pan.

abbreviation for

Panama

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

Medical definitions for pan

pan-

pref.

All:panagglutinins.

General; whole:panimmunity.

Cultural definitions for pan

Pan

The Greek god of flocks, forests, meadows, and shepherds. He had the horns and feet of a goat. Pan frolicked about the landscape, playing delightful tunes.

notes for Pan

Pan's musical instrument was a set of reed pipes, the “pipes of Pan.”

notes for Pan

According to legend, Pan was the source of scary noises in the wilderness at night. Fright at these noises was called “panic.”

Idioms and Phrases with pan

pan

In addition to the idiom beginning with pan

pan out

also see:

flash in the pan
out of the frying pan

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pan

noun

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

Verb Phrases

QUIZZES

THIS PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ IS PERFECT PRACTICE FOR THE REAL TEST

Origin of pan

OTHER WORDS FROM pan

Definition for pan (2 of 8)

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (3 of 8)

verb (used without object), panned, pan·ning.

verb (used with object), panned, pan·ning.

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (4 of 8)

noun

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (5 of 8)

noun Informal.

Origin of pan

Definition for pan (6 of 8)

noun

Definition for pan (7 of 8)

Origin of pan-

Definition for pan (8 of 8)

abbreviation

Words related to pan

Example sentences from the Web for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (1 of 6)

noun

verb pans, panning or panned

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (2 of 6)

verb pans, panning or panned

noun

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (3 of 6)

paan (pɑːn)

noun

Word Origin for pan

British Dictionary definitions for pan (4 of 6)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for pan (5 of 6)

combining form

Word Origin for pan-

British Dictionary definitions for pan (6 of 6)

abbreviation for

Medical definitions for pan

pref.

Cultural definitions for pan

notes for Pan

notes for Pan

Idioms and Phrases with pan