brain-pan arch.
(ˈbreɪnpæn)
[f. brain n. + pan.]
That which contains the brain; the skull.
| c 1400 Mandeville xxii. 234 The Brayn Panne of a ded Man. 1535 Coverdale Judg. ix. 53 A woman cast a pece of a mylstone..and brake his brane panne. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 167 ¶3 To settle my Head and cool my Brain-pan. 1872 Hardwick Trad. Lanc. 205 The skull of a fossil elephant..commonly believed to be the brain-pan of an enormous giant. |
b. transf. (Cf. head, noddle, skull.)
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) It is a starveling conceit of Innovating brain-pans. |