panning out

Verb

pan out (third-person singular simple present pans out, present participle panning out, simple past and past participle panned out)

1. (transitive) To separate and recover (valuable minerals) by swirling dirt or crushed rock in a pan of water, in the manner of a traditional prospector seeking gold.
   • On the Saturday holidays in summer-time we used to borrow skiffs whose owners were not present and go down the river three miles to the cave hollow (Missourian for "valley"), and there we staked out claims and pretended to dig gold, panning out half a dollar a day at first.1907, Mark Twain, chapter 23, in Chapters from My Autobiography
2. (figuratively, intransitive) To proceed according to plan; to result or end up with an acceptable outcome or in an acceptable form.
   • My hopes for a white Christmas didn't pan out this year.

   Synonyms:

   shape up, work out

3. (Ireland, intransitive, slang) To fall asleep.