pan

UK: 'pan': /ˈpæn/; 'Pan': /'pæn/

US: /pæn/

US: 'pan': (pan; Plant Biol. pän); 'Pan': (pan)

Inflections of 'pan' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

pans

v 3rd person singular

panning

v pres p

panned

v past

panned

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pan¹ /pæn/   n., v., panned, pan•ning. 
n. [countable]

1. a wide or broad, usually shallow metal container used for frying, baking, washing, etc.:
   a frying pan.
2. a similar container or part, as one of the scales of a balance:
   In one pan he placed the weight and in the other he measured out a kilo of flour.
3. Metallurgy a container in which gold is separated from gravel by shaking, stirring, or moving through water.

v. 

4. Informal Terms to criticize harshly, as in a review:
   [~ + object] The critics panned the new play.
5. Metallurgy to wash (gravel, etc.) in a pan to separate gold: [no object]
   The prospectors were panning for gold in the stream.
   [~ + object]
   to pan the gravel near Sutter's Mill.
6. pan out, [no object] [Informal.] to have an end or outcome, esp. a successful one:
   Things did not pan out well at his new job when he lost the report.

pan³ /pæn/   v., panned, pan•ning, n. 
v. 

1. Show Business to move a camera from one side to another to follow a moving subject or keep a wide scene in view: [no object]
   The camera operator panned from one end of the field to the other.
   [~ + object]
   She panned the camera to the left.
2. Show Business (of a camera) to be moved in such a manner:
   [no object] The camera panned back to show the captain and his men surrounded by enemy soldiers.

n. [countable]

3. Show Business the act of panning a camera.

pan-, prefix. 

1. pan- comes from Greek, where it has the meaning "all.'' This meaning is found in such words as: panorama;
   pantheism. It is also used esp. in terms that imply or suggest the union of all branches of a group:
   Pan-American;
   Pan- + hellenic (Greek) → Panhellenic (= all Greeks united in one group);
   Pan-Slavism (
   = all the people of Slavic background united).

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pan¹  (pan), n., v., panned, pan•ning. 
n. 

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. Mechanical Engineering any of various open or closed containers used in industrial or mechanical processes.
5. Metallurgy a container in which silver ores are ground and amalgamated.
6. Metallurgy a container in which gold or other heavy, valuable metals are separated from gravel or other substances by agitation with water.
7. Geography a drifting piece of flat, thin ice, as formed on a shore or bay.
8. Geography a natural depression in the ground, as one containing water, mud, or mineral salts.
9. Geography 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 Terms the face.

v.t. 

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

v.i. 

16. Metallurgy to wash gravel, sand, etc., in a pan in seeking gold or the like.
17. Metallurgy 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; Middle English, Old English panne; cognate with Dutch pan, German Pfanne, Old Norse panna

pan′ner, n. 

pan²  (pän), n. 

1. Plant Biology the leaf of the betel.
2. a substance, esp. betel nut or a betel-nut mixture, used for chewing.

• Hindi pān; compare Pali, Prakrit paṇṇa, Sanskrit parṇa leaf, betel leaf
• 1610–20

pan³  (pan), v., panned, pan•ning, n. 
v.i. 

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

v.t. 

3. Show Business to move (a camera) in such a manner:
   to pan the camera across the scene.
4. Show Business to photograph or televise (a scene, moving character, etc.) by panning the camera.

n. 

5. Show Business the act of panning a camera.
6. Show Business Also called panning shot. the filmed shot resulting from this.

• shortening of panorama 1920–25

pan⁴  (pan), n. 

1. Architecture a major vertical division of a wall.
2. Architecture a nogged panel of half-timber construction.

• French, Middle French: pane
• 1735–45

pan⁵  (pän), n. [Informal.]

1. Games panguingue.

• by shortening

pan⁶  (pan), n. 

1. Pan.

Pan  (pan), n. 

1. Mythology 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.

Pan  (pan), n. 

1. 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. 
pan-, 

1. 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.

Also, pant-, panto-. 

• Greek pan- combining form of pâs (neuter pân) all, every, pân everything

Pan., 

1. Place Names Panama.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pan / pæn/ noun

1. a wide metal vessel used in cooking
2. (in combination): saucepan
3. Also called: panful the amount such a vessel will hold
4. any of various similar vessels used esp in industry, as for boiling liquids
5. a dish used by prospectors, esp gold prospectors, for separating a valuable mineral from the gravel or earth containing it by washing and agitating
6. either of the two dishlike receptacles on a balance
7. Also called: lavatory pan the bowl of a lavatory
8. a natural or artificial depression in the ground where salt can be obtained by the evaporation of brine
9. a natural depression containing water or mud
10. See hardpan, brainpan
11. a slang word for face1a
12. a small cavity containing priming powder in the locks of old guns
13. a hard substratum of soil
14. short for pan loaf

verb (pans, panning, panned)

1. when tr, often followed by off or out: to wash (gravel) in a pan to separate particles of (valuable minerals) from it
2. (intransitive) often followed by out: (of gravel) to yield valuable minerals by this process
3. (transitive) to criticize harshly: the critics panned his new play

Etymology: Old English panne; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse panna, Old High German pfanna

pan / pæn/ verb (pans, panning, panned)

1. to move (a film camera) or (of a film camera) to be moved so as to follow a moving object or obtain a panoramic effect

noun

1. the act of panning

Etymology: 20th Century: shortened from panoramic

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Pan / pæn/ noun

1. the god of fields, woods, shepherds, and flocks, represented as a man with a goat's legs, horns, and ears
   Related adjective(s): Pandean, Panic

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Pan. abbreviation

1. Panama

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pan- combining_form

1. all or every: panchromatic
2. including or relating to all parts or members: Pan-African, pantheistic

Etymology: from Greek pan, neuter of pas all