Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pan \Pan\, v. i.
   1. (Mining) To yield gold in, or as in, the process of
      panning; -- usually with out; as, the gravel panned out
      richly.

   2. To turn out (profitably or unprofitably); to result; to
      develop; as, the investigation, or the speculation, panned
      out poorly. [Slang, U. S.]

Pan \Pan\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?.] (Gr. Myth.)
   The god of shepherds, guardian of bees, and patron of fishing
   and hunting. He is usually represented as having the head and
   trunk of a man, with the legs, horns, and tail of a goat, and
   as playing on the shepherd's pipe, which he is said to have
   invented.

Pan \Pan\, n. [OE. panne, AS. panne; cf. D. pan, G. pfanne, OHG.
   pfanna, Icel., Sw., LL., & Ir. panna, of uncertain origin;
   cf. L. patina, E. paten.]
   1. A shallow, open dish or vessel, usually of metal, employed
      for many domestic uses, as for setting milk for cream, for
      frying or baking food, etc.; also employed for various
      uses in manufacturing. ``A bowl or a pan.'' --Chaucer.

   2. (Manuf.) A closed vessel for boiling or evaporating. See
      {Vacuum pan}, under {Vacuum}.

   3. The part of a flintlock which holds the priming.

   4. The skull, considered as a vessel containing the brain;
      the upper part of the head; the brainpan; the cranium.
      --Chaucer.

   5. (C?rp.) A recess, or bed, for the leaf of a hinge.

   6. The hard stratum of earth that lies below the soil. See
      {Hard pan}, under {Hard}.

   7. A natural basin, containing salt or fresh water, or mud.

   {Flash in the pan}. See under {Flash}.

   {To savor of the pan}, to suggest the process of cooking or
      burning; in a theological sense, to be heretical.
      --Ridley. Southey.

Pan \Pan\, n. [OE. See 2d {Pane}.]
   1. A part; a portion.

   2. (Fort.) The distance comprised between the angle of the
      epaule and the flanked angle.

   3. [Perh. a different word.] A leaf of gold or silver.

Pan \Pan\, v. t. & i. [Cf. F. pan skirt, lappet, L. pannus a
   cloth, rag, W. panu to fur, to full.]
   To join or fit together; to unite. [Obs.] --Halliwell.

Pan \Pan\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Panned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Panning}.] (Mining)
   To separate, as gold, from dirt or sand, by washing in a kind
   of pan. [U. S.]

         We . . . witnessed the process of cleaning up and
         panning out, which is the last process of separating
         the pure gold from the fine dirt and black sand. --Gen.
                                                  W. T. Sherman.

Pan \Pan\, n. [Hind. p[=a]n, Skr. parna leaf.]
   The betel leaf; also, the masticatory made of the betel leaf,
   etc. See {?etel}.

Source : WordNet®

pan
     n 1: cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel [syn: {cooking
          pan}]
     2: (Greek mythology) god of fields and woods and shepherds and
        flocks; represented as a man with goat's legs and horns
        and ears; identified with Roman Sylvanus or Faunus [syn: {the
        goat god}]
     3: shallow container made of metal
     4: chimpanzees; more closely related to Australopithecus than
        to other pongids [syn: {genus Pan}]
     [also: {panning}, {panned}]

pan
     v 1: make a sweeping movement; "The camera panned across the
          room"
     2: wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals
        [syn: {pan out}, {pan off}]
     3: express a totally negative opinion of; "The critics panned
        the performance" [syn: {tear apart}, {trash}]
     [also: {panning}, {panned}]