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fan - 15 dictionary results
fan
1
[fan] 
noun, verb, fanned, fan⋅ning.–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)
—Idiom| 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. |
| 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
bef. 900; ME, OE fann < L vannus winnowing basket
Related forms:
fanlike, adjective
fanner, noun
fan
2 [fan] –noun
| an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan; a great fan of Charlie Chaplin. |
Synonyms:
supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict.
supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict.
fly
1 [flahy] verb, flew or, for 11, 19, flied, flown, fly⋅ing, noun, plural flies.–verb (used without object)
| 1. | to move through the air using wings. |
| 2. | to be carried through the air by the wind or any other force or agency: bits of paper flying about. |
| 3. | to float or flutter in the air: flags flying in the breeze. |
| 4. | to travel in an aircraft or spacecraft. |
| 5. | to move suddenly and quickly; start unexpectedly: He flew from the room. |
| 6. | to change rapidly and unexpectedly from one state or position to another: The door flew open. |
| 7. | to flee; escape. |
| 8. | to travel in space: The probe will fly past the planet. |
| 9. | to move or pass swiftly: How time flies! |
| 10. | to move with an aggressive surge: A mother fox will fly at anyone approaching her kits. |
| 11. | Baseball.
|
| 12. | Informal. to be acceptable, believable, or feasible: It seemed like a good idea, but it just wouldn't fly. |
–verb (used with object)
| 13. | to make (something) float or move through the air: to fly a kite. |
| 14. | to operate (an aircraft, spacecraft, or the like). |
| 15. | to hoist aloft, as for display, signaling, etc.: to fly a flag. |
| 16. | to operate an aircraft or spacecraft over: to fly the Pacific. |
| 17. | to transport or convey by air: We fly merchandise to Boston. |
| 18. | to escape from; flee: to fly someone's wrath. |
| 19. | Theater.
|
–noun
—Verb phrase| 20. | a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners. |
| 21. | a flap forming the door of a tent. |
| 22. | Also called tent fly. a piece of canvas extending over the ridgepole of a tent and forming an outer roof. |
| 23. | an act of flying; a flight. |
| 24. | the course of a flying object, as a ball. |
| 25. | Baseball. fly ball. |
| 26. | British. a light, covered, public carriage drawn by one horse; hansom; hackney coach. |
| 27. | Machinery. a horizontal arm, weighted at each end, that pivots about the screw of a press so that when the screw is lowered the momentum of the fly will increase the force of the press. |
| 28. | Also called fan. Horology. a regulating device for chime and striking mechanisms, consisting of an arrangement of vanes on a revolving axis. |
| 29. | Printing.
|
| 30. | (on a flag)
|
| 31. | flies. Also called fly loft. Theater. the space above the stage used chiefly for storing scenery and equipment. |
| 32. | Nautical. a propellerlike device streamed to rotate and transfer information on speed to a mechanical log. |
| 33. | fly out, Baseball, Softball. to be put out by hitting a fly ball that is caught by a player of the opposing team. |
| 34. | fly blind. blind (def. 33). |
| 35. | fly in the face of, to act in defiance of (authority, custom, etc.). Also, fly in the teeth of. |
| 36. | fly off the handle. handle (def. 16). |
| 37. | go fly a kite, Slang.
|
| 38. | let fly,
|
| 39. | on the fly,
|
Origin:
bef. 900; ME flīen, OE flēogan; c. OHG fliogan, G fliegen, ON fljuga
bef. 900; ME flīen, OE flēogan; c. OHG fliogan, G fliegen, ON fljuga
Related forms:
fly⋅a⋅ble, adjective
fly⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
Synonyms:
1. Fly, flit, flutter, hover, soar refer to moving through the air as on wings. Fly is the general term: Birds fly. Airplanes fly. To flit is to make short rapid flights from place to place: A bird flits from tree to tree. To flutter is to agitate the wings tremulously, either without flying or in flying only short distances: A young bird flutters out of a nest and in again. To hover is to linger in the air, or to move over or about something within a narrow area or space: hovering clouds; a hummingbird hovering over a blossom. To soar is to (start to) fly upward to a great height usually with little advance in any other direction, or else to (continue to) fly at a lofty height without visible movement of the wings: Above our heads an eagle was soaring.
1. Fly, flit, flutter, hover, soar refer to moving through the air as on wings. Fly is the general term: Birds fly. Airplanes fly. To flit is to make short rapid flights from place to place: A bird flits from tree to tree. To flutter is to agitate the wings tremulously, either without flying or in flying only short distances: A young bird flutters out of a nest and in again. To hover is to linger in the air, or to move over or about something within a narrow area or space: hovering clouds; a hummingbird hovering over a blossom. To soar is to (start to) fly upward to a great height usually with little advance in any other direction, or else to (continue to) fly at a lofty height without visible movement of the wings: Above our heads an eagle was soaring.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To fan
| fan 1 (fān) n.
v. tr.
[Middle English, winnowing fan, from Old English fann, from Latin vannus; see wet-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
| fan 2 (fān) n. An ardent devotee; an enthusiast. [Short for fanatic.] |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fan
Fan\, n. [AS. fann, fr. L. vannus fan, van for winnowing grain; cf. F. van. Cf. Van a winnowing machine, Winnow.]1. An instrument used for producing artificial currents of air, by the wafting or revolving motion of a broad surface; as: (a) An instrument for cooling the person, made of feathers, paper, silk, etc., and often mounted on sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a circle. (b) (Mach.) Any revolving vane or vanes used for producing currents of air, in winnowing grain, blowing a fire, ventilation, etc., or for checking rapid motion by the resistance of the air; a fan blower; a fan wheel. (c) An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away. (d) Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a peacock's tail, a window, etc. (e) A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind. Clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. --Is. xxx. 24. 2. That which produces effects analogous to those of a fan, as in exciting a flame, etc.; that which inflames, heightens, or strengthens; as, it served as a fan to the flame of his passion. 3. A quintain; -- from its form. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Fan blower, a wheel with vanes fixed on a rotating shaft inclosed in a case or chamber, to create a blast of air (fan blast) for forge purposes, or a current for draft and ventilation; a fanner. Fan cricket (Zo["o]l.), a mole cricket. Fan light (Arch.), a window over a door; -- so called from the semicircular form and radiating sash bars of those windows which are set in the circular heads of arched doorways. Fan shell (Zo["o]l.), any shell of the family Pectinid[ae]. See Scallop, n., 1. Fan tracery (Arch.), the decorative tracery on the surface of fan vaulting. Fan vaulting (Arch.), an elaborate system of vaulting, in which the ribs diverge somewhat like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic. Fan wheel, the wheel of a fan blower. Fan window. Same as Fan light (above).Fan
Fan\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fanned; p. pr. & vb. n. Fanning.] [Cf. OF. vanner, L. vannere. See Fan, n., Van a winnowing machine.]1. To move as with a fan. The air . . . fanned with unnumbered plumes. --Milton. 2. To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan. 3. To ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion. Calm as the breath which fans our eastern groves. --Dryden. 4. To winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air; as, to fan wheat. --Jer. li. 2. 5. To excite or stir up to activity, as a fan axcites a flame; to stimulate; as, this conduct fanned the excitement of the populace. Fanning machine, or Fanning mill, a machine for separating seed from chaff, etc., by a blast of air; a fanner.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fan
Spanish:
abanico,
German:
der Fächer,
Japanese:
扇
fan
n. Without qualification, indicates a fan of science fiction, especially one who goes to cons and tends to hang out with other fans. Many hackers are fans, so this term has been imported from fannish slang; however, unlike much fannish slang it is recognized by most non-fannish hackers. Among SF fans the plural is correctly `fen', but this usage is not automatic to hackers. "Laura reads the stuff occasionally but isn't really a fan."
Jargon File 4.2.0
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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.
fan (2)
1889, Amer.Eng., originally of baseball enthusiasts, probably a shortening of fanatic, but may be influenced by the Fancy (1807), a collective term for followers of a certain hobby or sport (especially boxing). There is an isolated use from 1682, but the modern word is likely a new formation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Fan
a winnowing shovel by which grain was thrown up against the wind that it might be cleansed from broken straw and chaff (Isa. 30:24; Jer. 15:7; Matt. 3:12). (See AGRICULTURE.)
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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fan
In addition to the idiom beginning with fan, also see shit will hit the fan.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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FAN
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The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
