pan

[[t]pæ̱n[/t]]

♦♦♦

pans, panning, panned

1) N-COUNT A pan is a round metal container with a long handle, which is used for cooking things in, usually on top of a cooker or stove.

Heat the butter and oil in a large pan.

Syn:

saucepan

2) N-COUNT A pan is a shallow metal container used for baking foods. [AM]

(in BRIT, use baking tin)

3) VERB: usu passive If something such as a film or a book is panned by journalists, they say it is very bad. [INFORMAL]

[be V-ed] His first high-budget movie, called `Brain Donors', was panned by the critics.

Syn:

slate

4) V-ERG If you pan a film or television camera or if it pans somewhere, it moves slowly round so that a wide area is filmed.

[V prep/adv] The camera panned along the line of players...

[V prep/adv] He panned over the crowd for a few minutes before swivelling back to the right...

[V n] A television camera panned the stadium...

[V n] He panned the camera, giving a sense of motion. [Also V]

5) VERB If someone pans for gold, they use a shallow metal container to try to find small pieces of gold from a river.

[V for n] People came westward in the 1800s to pan for gold in the stream beds of the Sierra Nevada...

[V n] Every year they panned about a ton and a half of gold.

Phrasal Verbs:

- pan out