pan out

IPA/pˈan ˈaʊt/
IPA/pˈæn ˈaʊt/

pan out — phrasal verb

  • pan outbase form
  • pans out3rd person singular
  • panning out-ing form
  • panned outpast simple

1. to end or progress in some manner — usually said about a plan, project, or situa

1.phrasal verbintransitiveB2
Definition

to end or progress in some manner — usually said about a plan, project, or situation whose outcome is being watched or waited for, especially when asking if it succeeds or fails.

Example

Felipe's food-truck plan did not pan out because he could not get a permit.

usually in negative: didn't pan out

Maeve was not sure how the interview would pan out, so she kept applying for jobs.

interrogative: how something will pan out

Common collocations
  • not pan out
  • pan out well
  • pan out exactly
  • how something pans out
  • plan pans out
Synonyms
  • work out

    more common and neutral; used for both successful and unsuccessful results across all registers

  • turn out

    more general; works for one-off events (meetings, weather) and long-term plans alike

  • come off

    slightly more informal, often used for plans or attempts that succeed against the odds

Antonyms
  • fall through

    specifically of plans or arrangements that fail to materialise

  • flop

    informal; a plan or performance that completely fails

Grammar Patterns

pan out

not pan out

pan out + adverb (well / badly / exactly)

Usage Note

Frequently used in negative sentences (didn't pan out) or questions (will it pan out?) to express doubt about success. In the positive form, it often carries a sense of relief that something worked after a period of uncertainty.

Common Mistakes

I panned out the problem with my team.
My plan to solve the problem with my team did not pan out.
pan out is intransitive; it never takes a direct object. You cannot 'pan out' something.
The meeting panned out to be boring.
The meeting turned out to be boring.
pan out normally describes a process over time (a plan, a project, a career), not a one-event outcome like a meeting.
Let me pan out the details first.
Let me lay out the details first.
pan out has no literal meaning of spreading or arranging; that sense comes from 'pan out' as a different verb.

Synonym discussion

Sense: phrasal verb/1

All three phrasal verbs describe how a situation develops, but they differ in scope and register. Work out is the most common and neutral choice — it fits both casual ('Let's hope it works out') and semi-formal ('We need a solution that works out for everyone') contexts. Turn out is broader; it can describe the result of a single event ('The weather turned out sunny') as well as long-term plans, while pan out and come off are restricted to plans, projects, and efforts. Come off feels slightly more informal and often implies success after some risk ('The surprise party came off perfectly'). Pan out carries a subtle nuance of 'after a period of doubt or effort' — you would not say 'the day panned out well' for a casual afternoon, but you would say it about a year-long business project. For learners, work out is the safest default; save pan out for contexts where success was uncertain.

work out ↗turn out ↗come off ↗

Etymology

EnglishAmerican English

The phrasal verb 'pan out' comes from the literal practice of gold panning in the 1800s. Miners would swirl water and gravel in a metal pan to separate gold particles from the dirt. If gold appeared, the panning 'panned out' — it produced a result. By the mid-1800s, the expression was already being used metaphorically for any plan or venture that yielded a result, especially a successful one. The phrase is originally American English and spread from the California Gold Rush era.

First known use

1865

1865, in the meaning defined above