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pan2

Pronunciation: /pan/
Translate pan | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of pan

verb (pans, panning, panned)

[with object and adverbial of direction]
  • swing (a video or film camera) in a horizontal or vertical plane, typically to give a panoramic effect or follow a subject: he was panning the camera over everything in sight
  • [no object, with adverbial of direction] (of a camera) be swung in a horizontal or vertical plane:the camera panned to the dead dictator

noun

  • a panning movement:that slow pan over London

Phrases

pan and scan

a technique for narrowing the aspect ratio of a widescreen film to fit the squarer shape of a television screen by continuously selecting the most significant portion of the original picture, rather than just the middle portion.

Origin:

early 20th century: abbreviation of panorama

pan in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pan in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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