- pan
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I. noun
Etymology: Middle English panne, from Old English (akin to Old High German phanna pan), from Latin patina, from Greek patanē
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. a usually broad, shallow, and open container for domestic use (as for cooking)
b. any of various similar usually metal receptacles: as
(1) the hollow part of the lock in a firelock or flintlock gun that receives the priming
(2) either of the receptacles in a pair of scales
(3) a round shallow usually metal container for separating metal (as gold) from waste by washing
c. British toilet 3b; also bowl 3b
d. steel drum
2.
a.
(1) a natural basin or depression in land
(2) a similar artificial basin (as for evaporating brine)
b. a drifting fragment of the flat thin ice that forms in bays or along the shore
3. hardpan 1
4. slang face
5. a harsh criticism
II. verb
(panned; panning)
Date: 1839
transitive verb
1.
a. to wash in a pan for the purpose of separating heavy particles
b. to separate (as gold) by panning
c. to place in a pan
2. to criticize severely <the show was panned> intransitive verb 1. to wash material (as earth or gravel) in a pan in search of metal (as gold) 2. to yield precious metal in the process of panning — usually used with out III. noun Etymology: Hindi & Urdu pān, from Sanskrit parṇa wing, leaf — more at fern Date: 1616 1. a betel leaf 2. a masticatory of betel nut, mineral lime, and pan IV. noun Etymology: short for panorama Date: circa 1922 1. the process of panning a motion-picture or video camera 2. a shot in which the camera is panned V. verb (panned; panning) Date: 1930 transitive verb to rotate (as a motion-picture camera) so as to keep an object in the picture or secure a panoramic effect intransitive verb 1. to pan a motion-picture or video camera 2. of a camera to undergo panning
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.