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Fanning

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fan

1  [fan] noun, verb, fanned, fan⋅ning.
Use Fanning in a Sentence
–noun
1. any device for producing a current of air by the movement of a broad surface or a number of such surfaces.
2. an implement of feathers, leaves, paper, cloth, etc., often in the shape of a long triangle or of a semicircle, for waving lightly in the hand to create a cooling current of air about a person: We sat on the veranda, cooling ourselves with palm-leaf fans.
3. anything resembling such an implement, as the tail of a bird.
4. any of various devices consisting essentially of a series of radiating vanes or blades attached to and revolving with a central hublike portion to produce a current of air: ceiling fan; wall fan.
5. a series of revolving blades supplying air for winnowing or cleaning grain.
6. Horology. fly 1 (def. 28).
7. a semicircular decoration of bunting.
8. Physical Geography. an alluvial fan.
–verb (used with object)
9. to move or agitate (the air) with or as if with a fan.
10. to cause air to blow upon, as from a fan; cool or refresh with or as if with a fan: He fanned his face with a newspaper.
11. to stir to activity with or as if with a fan: to fan a flame; to fan emotions.
12. (of a breeze, current of air, etc.) to blow upon, as if driven by a fan: A cool breeze fanned the shore.
13. to spread out like a fan: The dealer fanned the cards.
14. Informal. to move (oneself) quickly: You'll fan your tail out of here if you know what's good for you.
15. Agriculture. to winnow, esp. by an artificial current of air.
16. Baseball. (of a pitcher) to strike out (a batter).
17. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to punish by spanking; spank: Your mother will fan you good if you break that dish.
–verb (used without object)
18. to strike, swing, or brush lightly at something.
19. Western U.S. (chiefly cowboy use). to slap the flanks of (a horse or other animal) repeatedly with a hat to get it to move or move faster.
20. to spread out like a fan (often fol. by out): The forest fire fanned out in all directions.
21. Baseball. (of a batter) to strike out, usually by swinging at and missing the pitch charged as the third strike.
—Idiom
22. hit the fan, Slang. to become suddenly more awkward, embarrassing, or troublesome: When news of the incident was leaked to the press, everything hit the fan at once.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE fann < L vannus winnowing basket

Related forms:
fanlike, adjective
fanner, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fan 1   (fān)   
n.  

  1. A device for creating a current of air or a breeze, especially:

    1. A machine using an electric motor to rotate thin, rigid vanes in order to move air, as for cooling.

    2. A collapsible, usually wedge-shaped device made of a light material such as silk, paper, or plastic.

  2. A machine for winnowing.

  3. Something resembling an open fan in shape: a peacock's fan.

v.   fanned, fan·ning, fans

v.   tr.

  1. To move or cause a current of (air) with or as if with a fan.

  2. To direct a current of air or a breeze upon, especially in order to cool: fan one's face.

  3. To stir (something) up by or as if by fanning: fanned the flames in the fireplace; a troublemaker who fanned resentment among the staff.

  4. To open (something) out into the shape of a fan: The bird fanned its colorful tail.

    1. To fire (an automatic gun) in a continuous sweep by keeping one's finger on the trigger.

    2. To fire (a nonautomatic gun) rapidly by chopping the hammer with the palm.

  6. To winnow.

  7. Baseball To strike out (a batter).

v.   intr.

  1. To spread out like a fan: The troops fanned out from the beachhead.

  2. Baseball To strike out.


[Middle English, winnowing fan, from Old English fann, from Latin vannus; see wet-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
fan

  1. tv.
    to ignore someone or something; to cut a class; to blow (so/sth) off. (Fan off = blow as in blow (so) off. Fan, from fanatic meaning “devotee” or “admirer” is very old and is Standard English.) : You have to meet with your teacher? Oh, fan that. It doesn't matter.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

fan  (1)
O.E. (W. Saxon) fann "a basket or shovel for winnowing grain" (by tossing it in the air), from L. vannus, related to ventus "wind" (see wind (n.)). The chaff, being lighter, would blow off. Sense of "device for moving air" first recorded 1390; the hand-held version is first attested 1555. To fan out "spread out like a hand-held fan," is from 1592. A fan-light (1819) originally was shaped like a lady's fan.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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