pans

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pan.

   All the pans were hanging from hooks above the stove.

   He scrubbed the burnt pans until they shone again.

   Note

   The same spelling does double duty: it is also the verb's present tense, as in "the camera pans." A count word or article marks the noun (two pans, the pans). Abbreviations follow the same regular -s. PAN, short for primary account number or personal area network, can be counted, so a bank keeps customers' PANs and a household can run several PANs.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of pan.

   The shot pans gently from the harbor to the distant hills.

   The critic pans the production for its sloppy staging.

   Note

   An object, or the lack of one, tells you which pan is meant. With an object, it is the critic's verb (she pans the novel), the prospector's (he pans the gravel for gold), or the informal sporting one (the home side pans its rivals). Without one, it usually belongs to the camera, which pans slowly across a scene.

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