pan
1 (păn)
[Middle English, from Old English panne, from West Germanic* panna, probably from Vulgar Latin* patna, from Latin patina, shallow pan, platter, from Greek patanē.]
noun
- A shallow, wide, open container, usually of metal and without a lid, used for holding liquids, cooking, and other domestic purposes.
- A vessel similar in form to a pan, especially:
- An open metal dish used to separate gold or other metal from gravel or waste by washing.
- Either of the receptacles on a balance or pair of scales.
- A vessel used for boiling and evaporating liquids.
- A basin or depression in the earth, often containing mud or water.
- A natural or artificial basin used to obtain salt by evaporating brine.
- Hardpan.
- A freely floating piece of ice that has broken off a larger floe.
- The small cavity in the lock of a flintlock used to hold powder.
- Music A steel drum.
- Slang The face.
- Informal Severe criticism, especially a negative review: gave the film a pan.
verb: panned, pan·ning, pans.
transitive verb
- To wash (gravel, for example) in a pan for gold or other precious metal.
- To cook (food) in a pan: panned the fish right after catching it.
- Informal To criticize or review harshly.
intransitive verb
- To wash gravel, sand, or other sediment in a pan.
- To yield gold as a result of washing in a pan.
phrasal verbs
- pan out
- To turn out well; be successful: “If I don't pan out as an actor I can still go back to school” (Saul Bellow)
