noun1. a. a wide metal vessel used in cooking
b. (in combination)
saucepan
2. Also called: panful the amount such a vessel will hold
3. any of various similar vessels used esp in industry, as for boiling liquids
4. a dish used by prospectors, esp gold prospectors, for separating a valuable mineral from the gravel or earth containing it by washing and agitating
5. either of the two dishlike receptacles on a balance
6. Also called: lavatory pan British the bowl of a lavatory
7. a. a natural or artificial depression in the ground where salt can be obtained by the evaporation of brine
b. a natural depression containing water or mud
8. Caribbean the indented top from an oil drum used as the treble drum in a steel band
9. hardpan, brainpan
11. a slang word for face (sense 1a)
12. a small cavity containing priming powder in the locks of old guns
13. a hard substratum of soil
14. short for pan loaf
verbWord forms: pans, panning or panned15. (when tr, often foll by off or out) to wash (gravel) in a pan to separate particles of (valuable minerals) from it
16. (intransitive; often foll by out) (of gravel) to yield valuable minerals by this process
17. (transitive) informal to criticize harshly
the critics panned his new play
Word origin
Old English
panne; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse
panna, Old High German
pfanna