pan
1 [pan]
noun, verb, panned, pan⋅ning.| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 18. | pan out, Informal. to turn out, esp. successfully: The couple's reconciliation just didn't pan out. |
bef. 900; ME, OE panne; c. D pan, G Pfanne, ON panna

Related forms:
pan
3 [pan]
verb, panned, pan⋅ning, noun | 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. |
| 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. |
| 5. | the act of panning a camera. |
| 6. | Also called panning shot. the filmed shot resulting from this. |
Pan
[pan]
| 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. |
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 esp. 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. |
Pan.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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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.]Cite This Source
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.”
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pan (n.)
pan (v.)
Pan
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Main Entry: Pan
Pronunciation: 'pan
Function: noun
: a genus of anthropoid apes containing the chimpanzee
Main Entry: PAN
Function: abbreviation
peroxyacetyl nitrate
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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.
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pan
In addition to the idiom beginning with pan, also see flash in the pan; out of the frying pan.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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PAN
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Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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