pan

pan¹ [pan]

noun

1》 a metal container for cooking food in.

2》 a bowl fitted at either end of a pair of scales.

    ↘Brit. the bowl of a toilet.

    ↘a shallow bowl in which gravel and mud is shaken and washed by people seeking gold.

3》 a steel drum.

4》 a hollow in the ground in which water collects or in which a deposit of salt remains after evaporation.

5》 a hard stratum of compacted soil.

6》 a part of the lock that held the priming in old types of gun.

7》 US informal a person's face.

verb (pans, panning, panned)

1》 informal criticize severely.

2》 wash gravel in a pan to separate out (gold).

3》 (pan out) end up or conclude, especially in a good way.

Phrases

go down the pan Brit. informal reach a stage of abject failure or uselessness.

Derivatives

panful noun (plural panfuls).

pan-like adjective

Origin

OE panne, of W. Gmc origin, perh. based on L. patina 'dish'.

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pan² [pan]

verb (pans, panning, panned) swing (a video or film camera) in a horizontal or vertical plane to give a panoramic effect or follow a subject.

noun a panning movement.

Phrases

pan and scan a technique for narrowing the aspect ratio of a widescreen film to fit a television screen by continuously selecting the most significant portion of the original picture.

Origin

early 20th cent.: abbrev. of panorama.

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pan³ [pα:n]

noun variant spelling of paan.