pan - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

A pan can be a cooking utensil, a negative opinion, or a sweeping camera shot. You cook eggs in a pan, but as a film critic you might pan a new docudrama for poor editing and overuse of pan shots.

A pan is a shallow metal object that you use to cook food. It can also be a verb indicating you're expressing a negative view. To pan a performance, book, or movie is to say that you think it stunk. If all the critics pan something, sales usually go down, but not always. To pan a film or video camera is to move it from left to right or right to left in a smooth motion.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: pan

1	n v	shallow container made of metal wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals
2	v	express a totally negative opinion of
3	v	make a sweeping movement

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: pan

1

n shallow container made of metal

Types:: show 5 types...; hide 5 types...; bain-marie
a large pan that is filled with hot water; smaller pans containing food can be set in the larger pan to keep food warm or to cook food slowly; dishpan
large pan for washing dishes; drip pan
pan under a refrigerator for collecting liquid waste; pannikin
a small pan or cup (usually of tin); warming pan
a long-handled covered pan holding live coals to warm a bed

Type of:: container
any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another)

n cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel

Synonyms:: cooking pan

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; drip pan, dripping pan
pan for catching drippings under roasting meat; frying pan, frypan, skillet
a pan used for frying foods; omelet pan, omelette pan
pan for cooking omelets; patty-pan
a pan for cooking patties or pasties; roaster
a special cooking pan for roasting; saucepan
a deep pan with a handle; used for stewing or boiling; wok
pan with a convex bottom; used for frying in Chinese cooking; double boiler, double saucepan
two saucepans, one fitting inside the other; electric frying pan
a frying pan heated by electricity; spider
a skillet made of cast iron; stewing pan, stewpan
a saucepan used for stewing

Type of:: cooking utensil, cookware
a kitchen utensil made of material that does not melt easily; used for cooking

v wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals

Synonyms:: pan off, pan out

Type of:: wash
separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)

2

v express a totally negative opinion of

“The critics panned the performance”

Synonyms:: tear apart, trash

Type of:: belittle, disparage, pick at
express a negative opinion of

3

v make a sweeping movement

“The camera panned across the room”

Type of:: go, locomote, move, travel
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically