pan out
verb
panned out; panning out; pans out
: to happen, end, or develop in a particular way : turn out
I'm really enjoying how this is all panning out now and it is so exciting and intriguing to watch and find out what happens next …—
Gary Neville
Gary Neville
especially
: succeed
… the signs revealed that the experiment wasn't panning out … —Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan She [Dixie Hollins] noted that learning about arts and entertainment fills her creative side and works as a great plan B if her goal of working in the medical field doesn't pan out. —Karin Davis-Thompson
Karin Davis-Thompson 
Examples of pan out in a Sentence
the eagerly anticipated kayaking trip never panned out
the investment scheme didn't quite pan out
Recent Examples on the Web
However, Judge did not pan out well, going 10-23 before being fired after the 2021 season to make way for Brian Daboll.
—Scott Thompson, Fox News, 28 Jan. 2025
It’s been four years since the Rockies traded away a franchise icon (third baseman Nolan Arenado) to St. Louis, with cash, for a pitcher (Austin Gomber) and four prospects who never panned out.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2025
Then there’s Baty, who has not panned out as the Mets had hoped after drafting him in the first round in 2019.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
In contrast, marketing and fraud detection can afford to target many cases that don't pan out — an unavoidable part of the numbers games that those kinds of operations inevitably play.
—Eric Siegel, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for pan out 
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Scott Thompson, Fox News, 28 Jan. 2025
It’s been four years since the Rockies traded away a franchise icon (third baseman Nolan Arenado) to St. Louis, with cash, for a pitcher (Austin Gomber) and four prospects who never panned out.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2025
Then there’s Baty, who has not panned out as the Mets had hoped after drafting him in the first round in 2019.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
In contrast, marketing and fraud detection can afford to target many cases that don't pan out — an unavoidable part of the numbers games that those kinds of operations inevitably play.
—Eric Siegel, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for pan out
Dictionary Entries Near pan out
Cite this Entry
“Pan out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pan%20out. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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