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pan

/pæn/

/pæn/

Other forms: pans; panned; panning; paned

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.

Definitions of pan
  1. noun
    shallow container made of metal
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    types:
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    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)
  2. noun
    cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel
    synonyms: cooking pan
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    types:
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    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
  3. verb
    wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals
    synonyms: pan off, pan out
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    type of:
    wash
    separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)
  4. verb
    express a totally negative opinion of
    “The critics panned the performance”
    synonyms: tear apart, trash
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    type of:
    belittle, disparage, pick at
    express a negative opinion of
  5. verb
    make a sweeping movement
    “The camera panned across the room”
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    type of:
    go, locomote, move, travel
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
Pronunciation
US

/pæn/

UK

/pæn/

DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘pan'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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