panel

panel — noun

1. a small team brought together to give expert opinions, judge a contest, or talk

1.nounC1
Definition

a small team brought together to give expert opinions, judge a contest, or talk about a topic in front of an audience or on television.

Example

A panel of three judges chose Maya's apple pie as this year's winner.

panel of + noun (judges)

The university invited four scientists to sit on a panel about climate change.

sit on a panel + about-phrase

Common collocations
  • expert panel
  • interview panel
  • advisory panel
  • review panel
  • panel discussion
  • panel of judges
Synonyms
  • committee

    more formal and ongoing; a panel is often gathered just once for a single task

  • jury

    specifically for legal trials or art/design contests

  • board

    a permanent decision-making body for a company or school, not a one-off discussion group

Grammar Patterns

panel of + noun (experts/judges/scientists)

on a panel

Usage Note

Takes a singular or plural verb in British English (the panel agrees / the panel agree); American English usually keeps the singular. Subject is almost always a noun describing people chosen for skill or status.

Common Mistakes

The panel of judges were three.
The panel had three judges.
don't use 'panel' to mean a count of people; it names the group itself.
I am in the panel.
I am on the panel.
the fixed preposition is 'on', not 'in'.

2. one of the rectangular sections, made from wood, glass, metal, or fabric, that t

2.nounC2
Definition

one of the rectangular sections, made from wood, glass, metal, or fabric, that together build up a bigger object — for example the inset blocks on a door, the segments of a car's outer shell, or the strips down the side of a dress.

Example

The kitchen door has a small glass panel so visitors can peek inside.

glass panel (material + noun)

Workers fitted dark wooden panels along the office walls to make the room feel warmer.

fit panels along + surface

Common collocations
  • wooden panel
  • glass panel
  • metal panel
  • solar panel
  • wall panel
  • ceiling panel
  • door panel
Synonyms
  • section

    more general; a panel is specifically flat and built in

  • board

    stiff flat material; a panel is usually finished and decorative

  • sheet

    thinner and often loose; panels are mounted in place

Grammar Patterns

[material] panel

a panel of + material

Usage Note

Object is almost always concrete and rectangular; the material (wood, glass, metal, fabric) is usually given as a modifier or 'of'-phrase. Distinguish from sense 3 (CONTROL SURFACE): a wall panel is just a flat piece, while a control panel carries switches and dials.

Common Mistakes

The window has a panel of glass and a panel of glass.
The window has two glass panels.
put the material before 'panel' as a single modifier.
A panel of cloth dress.
A dress with cloth panels.
'panel' is the part fitted into the larger thing, so the larger thing comes first.

3. a flat board, often inside a vehicle or machine, that holds the switches, button

3.nounB2
Definition

a flat board, often inside a vehicle or machine, that holds the switches, buttons, dials, and screens used to operate it.

Example

Red warning lights flashed across the pilot's panel as the storm grew worse.

lights flash across the panel

Marcus tapped a button on the control panel, and the factory robot stopped at once.

tap a button on the panel

Common collocations
  • control panel
  • instrument panel
  • dashboard panel
  • alarm panel
  • fuse panel
  • front panel
Synonyms
  • dashboard

    specifically the instrument panel in front of a driver

  • console

    a unit holding controls, often free-standing; a panel is usually a flat surface fixed in place

  • switchboard

    older term, mainly for a panel of telephone or electrical switches

Grammar Patterns

control panel

instrument panel

on the panel

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by a modifier that names the machine (control, instrument, alarm, dashboard). Verbs that take this object are physical: press, tap, flip, push, watch. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is defined by the controls on it, not by being decorative.

Common Mistakes

I pressed the panel.
I pressed a button on the panel.
you act on the buttons or switches, not on the panel itself.
The car has a control panel for the speed.
The car has a dashboard / instrument panel.
for cars, prefer 'dashboard' or 'instrument panel'; 'control panel' fits machines and equipment.

panel — verb

Word family

  • panelled
    adjectiveC1
  • panelling
    nounC1
  • panellist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four nouns name a group of people brought together to make decisions or judgements, but they differ in scope and permanence. A panel is usually small and short-lived: a few experts, judges, or guests gathered for a single discussion, contest, or interview. A committee is more formal and continues over time, often with a fixed chairperson and minutes — for example, a school's safety committee that meets every month. A jury is mainly used in court, where ordinary citizens decide if someone is guilty, but it can also judge art, music, and design competitions. A board is the most permanent and senior of the four: the board of a company or charity makes long-term policy. So you might be invited 'on a panel' for one TV debate, sit on a 'committee' all year, serve on a 'jury' for one trial, or join the 'board' as a director.

panel ↗committee ↗jury ↗board ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • panel discussion
  • panel member
  • panel debate

Phrases

  • sit on a panel
  • join a panel
  • appear on a panel
  • set up a panel

Prepositions

  • on a panel
  • on the panel
  • panel of

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'panel' came into English in the late 1300s from Old French 'panel', meaning a piece of cloth or a small saddle pad. That French word came from Latin 'pannus', meaning 'a piece of cloth'. The early English meaning was a list of people written on a sheet, especially the names of jurors picked for a court case — that legal list-meaning is where today's 'a panel of judges' or 'panel of experts' comes from. Later, in the 1400s and 1500s, the same word came to mean a flat rectangular piece of wood or glass set into a larger surface, probably because such pieces were originally framed like a stretched piece of cloth. The 'control panel' meaning, where switches and dials sit on a flat board, grew out of this physical sense in the 1800s with the rise of machines and electricity.