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pan2

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

verb (pans, panning, panned)

[with object]
  • swing (a video or movie camera) in a horizontal or vertical plane, typically to give a panoramic effect or follow a subject.
  • [no object] (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 Los Angeles

Phrases

pan and scan

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

Origin:

early 20th century: abbreviation of panorama

pan in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pan in the British & World English dictionary