Definition

1. Noun:

   • A shallow, wide, open container, typically of metal, used for cooking or other domestic purposes: A pan is a common kitchen utensil.
   • (Often capitalized) In Greek mythology, the god of fields, woods, shepherds, and flocks: Pan is depicted as a man with the legs, horns, and ears of a goat.
   • A natural or artificial basin or depression: In geography, a pan can refer to a flat, often dry, landform.
   • (Informal) A face or head: This is a slang usage.

2. Verb:

   • To wash gravel or sand in a pan to separate valuable minerals, especially gold: This is the process of panning for gold.
   • To criticize something severely, especially in a review: To pan a performance or work is to give it a very negative evaluation.
   • To move a camera horizontally across a scene while filming or televising: The camera pans to follow the action.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • She heated oil in a frying pan.
  • The story featured the god Pan playing his pipes.
  • They drove across a salt pan in the desert.

• Verb:

  • The old prospector spent the day panning for gold in the river.
  • The new movie was panned by critics.
  • The director instructed the camera operator to pan slowly from left to right.

Advanced Usage

• "to pan out": To develop or conclude in a particular way; to turn out.
  • We have a new plan; let's see how it pans out.
  • His business venture did not pan out as he had hoped.

Variants and Related Words

• Panning (n): The action of using a pan to search for gold or of moving a camera horizontally.
  • Gold panning is a popular tourist activity.
• Panful (n): The amount that a pan can hold.
  • She added a panful of water to the pot.
• Saucepan (n): A deep cooking pan with a handle and typically a lid.
• Frying pan (n): A shallow pan with a long handle, used for frying food.

Synonyms

• Criticize (v): To indicate the faults of someone or something in a disapproving way (for the verb meaning "to criticize severely").
• Basin (n): A wide, open container or a natural depression in the earth.
• Sweep (v): To move swiftly and smoothly (similar to the camera movement).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Pan out: See "Advanced Usage" above.
• Pan for: To search for (a mineral) by washing material in a pan.
  • They were panning for gold.

Related Idioms

• Out of the frying pan and into the fire: To go from a bad or difficult situation to one that is worse.
  • By quitting his job without another lined up, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
• Flash in the pan: Something that shows initial promise but fails to deliver anything lasting.
  • The band's first single was a hit, but they turned out to be just a flash in the pan.

Noun

1. chimpanzees; more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongids
2. shallow container made of metal
3. (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
4. cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel

Verb

1. express a totally negative opinion of
   • The critics panned the performance
2. wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals
3. make a sweeping movement
   • The camera panned across the room