pan

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 a container, usually made of metal, with a handle or handles, used for cooking food in: pots and pans * a large stainless steel pan seealsoFRYINGPAN, SAUCEPAN 2 the amount contained in a pan: a pan of boiling water 3 (AmE) = TIN(5): a cake pan 4 either of the dishes on a pair of SCALES that you put things into in order to weigh them 5 (BrE) the bowl of a toilet seealsoBEDPAN, DUSTPAN, SKIDPAN, WARMINGPAN IDIOMS go down the pan (BrE, slang) to be wasted or spoiled: That's another brilliant idea down the pan. moreatFLASHn. verb (-nn-) 1 [VN] [usuallypassive] (informal) to severely criticize sth such as a play or a film/movie: The television series was panned by critics and viewers alike. 2 if a television or video camera pans somewhere, or a person pans or pans a camera, the camera moves in a particular direction, to follow an object or to film a wide area: [V, +adv./prep.] The camera panned back to the audience. * [VN] He panned the camera along the row of faces. 3 ~ (for sth) to wash soil or small stones in a pan to find gold or other valuable minerals: [V] panning for gold [also VN] PHRASALVERBS pan out (informal) (of events or a situation) to develop in a particular way: I'm happy with the way things have panned out.