pan1
/pan/ • noun 1 a metal container for cooking food in. 2 a bowl fitted at either end of a pair of scales. 3 Brit. the bowl of a toilet. 4 a shallow bowl in which gravel and mud is shaken and washed by people seeking gold. 5 a hollow in the ground in which water collects or in which salt is deposited after evaporation. 6 a part of the lock that held the priming in old types of gun. 7 a steel drum. • verb (panned, panning) 1 informal criticize severely. 2 (pan out) informal end up or conclude. 3 wash gravel in a pan to separate out (gold). — PHRASES go down the pan informal fail or be totally useless. — ORIGIN Old English, perhaps from Latin patina ‘dish’.
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