pan 1 (p?n)n.1. A shallow, wide, open container, usually of metal and without a lid, used for holding liquids, cooking, and other domestic purposes.2. A vessel similar in form to a pan, especially:a. An open metal dish used to separate gold, other precious metals, or gemstones from gravel or waste by washing.b. Either of the receptacles on a balance or pair of scales.c. A vessel used for boiling and evaporating liquids.3. a. A basin or depression in the earth, often containing mud or water.b. A natural or artificial basin used to obtain salt by evaporating brine.c. Hardpan.4. A freely floating piece of ice that has broken off a larger floe.5. The small cavity in the lock of a flintlock used to hold powder.6. Music A steel drum.7. Slang The face.8. Informal Severe criticism, especially a negative review: gave the film a pan.v. panned, pan·ning, pans v.tr.1. To wash (gravel, for example) in a pan to separate out gold, other precious metals, or gemstones.2. To cook (food) in a pan: panned the fish right after catching it.3. Informal To criticize or review harshly.v.intr.1. To wash gravel, sand, or other sediment in a pan.2. To yield gold as a result of washing in a pan.Phrasal Verb: 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 patan?; see pet?- in Indo-European roots.]pan 2 (pän)n. Variant of paan.pan 3 (p?n)v. panned, pan·ning, pans v.intr. To pivot a movie camera along a horizontal plane in order to follow an object or create a panoramic effect.v.tr. To pivot (a movie camera) in a specified direction.n. A pivoting movement of a movie camera.[Short for panorama or panoramic.]Pan (p?n)n. Greek Mythology The god of woods, fields, and flocks, having a human torso and head with a goat’s legs, horns, and ears.[Middle English, from Latin P?n, from Greek.]PANn. peroxyacetyl nitrateAmerican Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.pan out vb (intr, adverb) informal to work out; turn out; result Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014