n. & v.
--n.
1. a thin flat cake of batter usu. fried and turned in a pan and rolled up with a filling.
2 a flat cake of make-up etc.
--v.
1. intr. make a pancake landing.
2 tr. cause (an aircraft) to pancake.
Phrases and idioms:
flat as a pancake completely flat. Pancake Day Shrove Tuesday (on which pancakes are traditionally eaten). pancake landing an emergency landing by an aircraft with its undercarriage still retracted, in which the pilot attempts to keep the aircraft in a horizontal position throughout.
Etymology: ME f. PAN(1) + CAKE