pan out

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pan out

verb pans out · panning out · panned out

transitive To separate and recover (valuable minerals) by swirling dirt or crushed rock in a pan of water, in the manner of a traditional prospector seeking gold. On the Saturday holidays in summer-time we used to borrow skiffs whose owners were not present and go down the river three miles to the cave hollow (Missourian for "valley"), and there we staked out claims and pretended to dig gold, panning out half a dollar a day at first.
figuratively, intransitive To proceed according to plan; to result or end up with an acceptable outcome or in an acceptable form. My hopes for a white Christmas didn't pan out this year.
Similar: shape up, work out
Ireland, intransitive, slang To fall asleep.

Translations

Every language

verb proceed according to plan

Português	dar em algo, dar em alguma coisa, dar resultado, ter resultado
Français	aboutir

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MLA

"pan out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pan%20out. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pan out. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pan%20out

Chicago

"pan out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pan%20out.

BibTeX

@misc{pan_out_2026,
  title = {pan out},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pan%20out},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}