Pan definition | Dictionary.com

pan

1 [pan]

noun, verb, panned, pan⋅ning.

–noun

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

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

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

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

5.	a container in which silver ores are ground and amalgamated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

12.	Slang. the face.

–verb (used with object)

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

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

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

–verb (used without object)

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

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

—Verb phrase

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

Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE panne; c. D pan, G Pfanne, ON panna

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Pan

Spanish:

cazuela, cazo, sartén (para freír), …,

German:

die Pfanne,

Japanese:

平なべ

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pan

2 [pahn]

–noun

1.	the leaf of the betel.

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

Origin:
1610–20; < Hindi pān; cf. Pali, Prakrit paṇṇa, Skt parṇa leaf, betel leaf

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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pan

3 [pan]

verb, panned, pan⋅ning, noun

–verb (used without object)

1.	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.

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

–verb (used with object)

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

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

–noun

5.	the act of panning a camera.

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

Origin:
1920–25; shortening of panorama

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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pan

4 [pan]

–noun

1.	a major vertical division of a wall.

2.	a nogged panel of half-timber construction.

Origin:
1735–45; < F, MF: pane

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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pan

5 [pahn]

–noun Informal.

panguingue.

Origin:
by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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pan

6 [pan]

–noun

Pan.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Pan

[pan]

–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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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Pan

[pan]

–noun

an international distress signal used by shore stations to inform a ship, aircraft, etc., of something vital to its safety or that of one of its passengers.

Also, pan.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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Pan.

Panama.

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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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pan¹ (pān) Pronunciation Key
n.

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:
1. An open metal dish used to separate gold or other metal from gravel or waste by washing.
2. Either of the receptacles on a balance or pair of scales.
3. A vessel used for boiling and evaporating liquids.
4. A basin or depression in the earth, often containing mud or water.
5. A natural or artificial basin used to obtain salt by evaporating brine.
6. Hardpan.
1. A basin or depression in the earth, often containing mud or water.
2. A natural or artificial basin used to obtain salt by evaporating brine.
3. 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.

v. panned, pan·ning, pans

v. tr.

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.

v. intr.

To wash gravel, sand, or other sediment in a pan.
To yield gold as a result of washing in a pan.

Phrasal Verb(s):
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).

[Middle English, from Old English panne, from West Germanic *panna, probably from Vulgar Latin *patna, from Latin patina, shallow pan, platter, from Greek patanē; see petə- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pan² (pän) Pronunciation Key
n.

A leaf of the betel vine.
A chewing preparation of this leaf with betel nuts, spices, and lime, used in the Far East.

[Hindi pān, from Sanskrit parṇam, feather, betel leaf; see per-² in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pan³   (pān) Pronunciation Key
v.   panned, pan·ning, pans

v.   intr.
To move a movie or television camera to follow an object or create a panoramic effect.
v.   tr.
To move (a camera) so as to follow a moving object or create a panoramic effect.

[Short for panorama or panoramic.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Pan (pān) Pronunciation Key
n.

Greek Mythology The god of woods, fields, and flocks, having a human torso and head with a goat's legs, horns, and ears.
The satellite of Saturn that is closest to the planet.

[Middle English, from Latin Pān, from Greek.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pan (n.)

O.E. panne, earlier ponne (Mercian), from W.Gmc. *panna (cf. O.N. panna, O.Fris. panne, O.L.G. panna, O.H.G. phanna, Ger. pfanne), probably an early borrowing (4c. or 5c.) from V.L. *patna, from L. patina "shallow, pan, dish," from Gk. patane "plate, dish," from PIE base *pet- "to spread." Ir. panna probably is from Eng., and Lith. pana is from German. Used of pan-shaped parts of mechanical apparatus from c.1590, hence flash in the pan, a fig. use from early firearms, where a pan held the priming (and the gunpowder might "flash," but no shot ensue). The verb meaning "criticize severely" is from 1911. Pancake is c.1430; as symbol of flatness c.1600. To pan out "turn out, succeed" (1868) is a fig. use of the lit. sense (1839) from panning for gold. To go out of the pan into the fire (1596) is first found in Spenser.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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pan (v.)

"follow with a camera," 1913 shortening of panoramic, from panoramic camera (1878). Meaning "to swing from one object to another in a scene" is from 1931. Panavision (1955) is a proprietary name of a type of wide-screen lens.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Pan

Arcadian shepherd god with upper body of a man and lower part like a goat, c.1369, a god of the woods and fields, from L., from Gk. Pan, perhaps cognate with Skt. pusan, a Vedic god, guardian and multiplier of cattle and other human possessions, lit. "nourisher." Similarity to pan "all" (see pan-) led to his being regarded as a personification of nature. Pan-pipe, upon which he supposedly played, is attested from 1820.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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pan
noun
1.	cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel
2.	(Greek mythology) god of fields and woods and shepherds and flocks; represented as a man with goat's legs and horns and ears; identified with Roman Sylvanus or Faunus
3.	shallow container made of metal
4.	chimpanzees; more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongids
verb
1.	make a sweeping movement; "The camera panned across the room"
2.	wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals
3.	express a totally negative opinion of; "The critics panned the performance"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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pan

In addition to the idiom beginning with pan, also see flash in the pan; out of the frying pan.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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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.

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

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

Main Entry: Pan
Pronunciation: 'pan
Function: noun
: a genus of anthropoid apes containing the chimpanzee

Main Entry: PAN
Function: abbreviation
peroxyacetyl nitrate

Pan

Pan\, n. [OE. See 2d Pane.]

1. A part; a portion.

2. (Fort.) The distance comprised between the angle of the epaule and the flanked angle.

3. [Perh. a different word.] A leaf of gold or silver.

Pan

Pan\, v. t. & i. [Cf. F. pan skirt, lappet, L. pannus a cloth, rag, W. panu to fur, to full.] To join or fit together; to unite. [Obs.] --Halliwell.

Pan

Pan\, n. [Hind. p[=a]n, Skr. parna leaf.] The betel leaf; also, the masticatory made of the betel leaf, etc. See ?etel.

Pan

Pan\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?.] (Gr. Myth.) The god of shepherds, guardian of bees, and patron of fishing and hunting. He is usually represented as having the head and trunk of a man, with the legs, horns, and tail of a goat, and as playing on the shepherd's pipe, which he is said to have invented.

Pan

Pan\, n. [OE. panne, AS. panne; cf. D. pan, G. pfanne, OHG. pfanna, Icel., Sw., LL., & Ir. panna, of uncertain origin; cf. L. patina, E. paten.]

1. A shallow, open dish or vessel, usually of metal, employed for many domestic uses, as for setting milk for cream, for frying or baking food, etc.; also employed for various uses in manufacturing. "A bowl or a pan." --Chaucer.

2. (Manuf.) A closed vessel for boiling or evaporating. See Vacuum pan, under Vacuum.

3. The part of a flintlock which holds the priming.

4. The skull, considered as a vessel containing the brain; the upper part of the head; the brainpan; the cranium. --Chaucer.

5. (C?rp.) A recess, or bed, for the leaf of a hinge.

6. The hard stratum of earth that lies below the soil. See Hard pan, under Hard.

7. A natural basin, containing salt or fresh water, or mud.

Flash in the pan. See under Flash.

To savor of the pan, to suggest the process of cooking or burning; in a theological sense, to be heretical. --Ridley. Southey.

Pan

Pan\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Panned; p. pr. & vb. n. Panning.] (Mining) To separate, as gold, from dirt or sand, by washing in a kind of pan. [U. S.]

We . . . witnessed the process of cleaning up and panning out, which is the last process of separating the pure gold from the fine dirt and black sand. --Gen. W. T. Sherman.

Pan

Pan\, v. i. 1. (Mining) To yield gold in, or as in, the process of panning; -- usually with out; as, the gravel panned out richly.

2. To turn out (profitably or unprofitably); to result; to develop; as, the investigation, or the speculation, panned out poorly. [Slang, U. S.]

Pan

a vessel of metal or earthenware used in culinary operations; a cooking-pan or frying-pan frequently referred to in the Old Testament (Lev. 2:5; 6:21; Num. 11:8; 1 Sam. 2:14, etc.). The "ash-pans" mentioned in Ex. 27:3 were made of copper, and were used in connection with the altar of burnt-offering. The "iron pan" mentioned in Ezek. 4:3 (marg., "flat plate " or "slice") was probably a mere plate of iron used for baking. The "fire-pans" of Ex. 27:3 were fire-shovels used for taking up coals. The same Hebrew word is rendered "snuff-dishes" (25:38; 37:23) and "censers" (Lev. 10:1; 16:12; Num. 4:14, etc.). These were probably simply metal vessels employed for carrying burning embers from the brazen altar to the altar of incense. The "frying-pan" mentioned in Lev. 2:7; 7:9 was a pot for boiling.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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PAN