n. & v.
n. 1 a a vessel of metal, earthenware, or plastic, usu. broad and shallow, used for cooking and other domestic purposes. b the contents of this. 2 a panlike vessel in which substances are heated etc. 3 any similar shallow container such as the bowl of a pair of scales or that used for washing gravel etc. to separate gold. 4 Brit. the bowl of a lavatory. 5 part of the lock that held the priming in old guns. 6 a hollow in the ground (salt-pan). 7 a hard substratum of soil. 8 US sl. the face.
v. (panned, panning) 1 tr. colloq. criticize severely. 2 a tr. (foll. by off, out) wash (gold-bearing gravel) in a pan. b intr. search for gold by panning gravel. c intr. (foll. by out) (of gravel) yield gold. pan out (of an action etc.) turn out in a specified way. panful n. (pl. -fuls). panlike adj.
[ OE panne, perh. ult. f. L patina dish ]