pan out, to
pan out
1. To conclude in a successful or pleasing manner; to work out. I'm delighted with how that all panned out! I hope this decision pans out for him.
2. To rest or fall asleep, especially in a sprawling or prostrate position. Tom is panned out on the sofa, if you're looking for him. Would you mind fixing dinner tonight? I need to go pan out for a little while.
See also: out, pan
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
pan out
1. and zoom out to move back to a wider angle picture using a zoom lens. The camera zoomed out. Pan out at this point in the script and give a wider view of the scene.
2. Go to turn out (all right).
See also: out, pan
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
pan out
Turn out well, succeed, as in If I don't pan out as a musician, I can always go back to school. This expression alludes to washing gold from gravel in a pan. [Mid-1800s]
See also: out, pan
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
pan out
v.
1. To prove successful, effective, or satisfactory; turn out well: I'm glad to see that your business plan has panned out.
2. To have some specified result: My plans panned out poorly.
See also: out, pan
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
pan out
in. [for something] to work out or turn out all right. Don’t worry. Everything will pan out okay.
See also: out, pan
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
pan out, to
To succeed. The term alludes to the pan used by prospectors to wash gold from the gravel of streams; what remained in the pan was the ore. The term was transferred to other kinds of success in the late nineteenth century. Bret Harte used it in Drift from Two Shores (1879): “That depends pretty much on how things pan out.”
See also: pan
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- pan out
- delighted to have you
- delighted to have you here
- delighted to make your acquaintance
- pleasing to the eye
- make (someone's) acquaintance
- make acquaintance
- make somebody's acquaintance
- on (one's) right side
- right side, on someone's