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fan

[fan]

Example Sentences Origin

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noun

any device for producing a current of air by the movement of a broad surface or a number of such surfaces.

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.

anything resembling such an implement, as the tail of a bird.

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.

a series of revolving blades supplying air for winnowing or cleaning grain.

EXPAND

Horology. fly¹ (def. 28).

a semicircular decoration of bunting.

Physical Geography. an alluvial fan.

COLLAPSE

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verb (used with object)

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.

EXPAND

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, especially 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.

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Fan is one of our favorite verbs.

So is skedaddle. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

chat, to converse

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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 followed 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:
before 900; Middle English, Old English fann < Latin vannus winnowing basket

Related forms

fan·like, adjective

fan·ner, noun

un·fanned, adjective

Example Sentences

Babies who sleep in rooms with a fan have a dramatically lower risk for sudden infant death syndrome, a new study shows.

It's a square fan set into the wall and vents to the outside.

As the craft then rotates, the wings start providing lift, and the fan starts blowing towards the back.

EXPAND

Babies who sleep in rooms with a fan have a dramatically lower risk for sudden infant death syndrome, a new study shows.

It's a square fan set into the wall and vents to the outside.

As the craft then rotates, the wings start providing lift, and the fan starts blowing towards the back.

Ah, the crack of the baseball bat¿it is for the devoted fan as evocative of the game as the seventh-inning stretch.

No one talks but for the occasional murmur, tactfully hidden behind fan or hand.

Unless you're a priest or a fan of historical reenactments, you probably aren't serving wine in silver goblets.

With the number of fan projects sent to us, it's difficult finding any worth spotlighting.

It has a pull-chain which opens it and starts the motor to turn the fan.

The television money and fan base attract capital too.

If you now place a fan in front of you, you will feel cool.

Unfortunately, my stomach was not as big a fan of the food as my taste buds were.

With a knife, cut the parent rhizome into segments so each has its own leaf fan.

The show has been renewed during the upfronts before following a fan uprising.

Insulting the other team is not an essesntial part of the game, or even the fan experience.

If the whole contraption could be turned around, and the fan placed downwind from the support pole, this problem would disappear.

Finally, a fan blows air through the refrigerant coil and into the ducts of the house.

It may not be the best fiction ever written, but for a dinosaur fan this collection is about as good as it gets.

Soft meringue has earned its fan base in this country as a cloud on top of lemon pie.

In one, an officer whose agency is not readily identifiable restrains a fan and throws him to the ground.

The fund has suddenly become a fan of fiscal stimulus.

The valley sides show evidence of multiple large landslides that have created vast fan shapes of material.

Using the tops as a handle, fan out light parts under running water and wash off grit.

I've been a fan of their products for a long time, and it was great to spend time getting to know the people behind them.

America is merely the latest fan of a broader global trend.

If the breeze alone isn't enough, apply some fan power.

I've always been a fan of honey and lemon in my tea.

The problem is how to turn the fan base into an effective lobby.

The problem, it said, was vote-fixing and fan violence.

In the brutal heat, locals fan themselves in front of beautifully preserved turn-of-the-century churches.

And unfortunately their preaching these days are full of venom and negativity to fan agitation.

It is the dream of every sports fan to own his or her favorite team.

Fan out the deck and tell a friend to pick a secret card.

Feathered fossils fan debate over the bird-dinosaur link.

But heck, the office ceiling fan is on the other side of the.

Putin visited the grave of a fan who was killed in a brawl with migrants.

Soccer spawns deeply rooted rivalries and fan violence.

Their stories should spark the imagination, fire the thirst for adventure and fan the flames of independence.

They've equipped their new engine with a state-of-the-art gearbox that allows the fan and turbine run at different speeds.

Our president was a fan of that technique at my last university.

Appreciation of the spin bowler's art separates the cerebral fan from the bloodthirsty.

Soon they will fan out and gorge on insects in the forest below.

Many a seafood fan has parroted the popular idea that fish and crustaceans do not feel pain.

Patronism's novel goal is to enmesh the band and the fan so that the latter is a constant supporter of the former, a true patron.

There are facebook professor fan clubs and professor anti-fan clubs.

Barren granite and scruffy tundra fan out in every direction.

The noise is from the fan that blows air across the magnetron to keep it cool.

Rude surprises awaited us in the kitchen: the counters were too shallow for a built-in dishwasher, and the oven fan vented.

She's the subject of fan sites, icons, desktops and.

But the system saves her an hour's commute each way to the main campus, so she's a fan.

The average football fan probably has no interest at all in any of this.

By nightfall, heaps of debris fan out around the openings.

Religious folks supporting science, and science fan fundies throw the baby out with the bath water.

Goblin had been a fan favorite for years and years and years, and so that was on the list as well.

Mexico's professional wrestlers appeal to a global fan base.

Munroe says, and xkcd's growing fan base has taken to re-enacting events that take place in the comic.

But for anyone who was not already a poker fan it seemed boring.

Wind turbines or windmills generate mechanical power from the wind with large blades similar to those on a fan.

The first local outbreaks could then quickly fan out across the globe.

Christie introduced himself and said he was a big fan.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan; a great fan of Charlie Chaplin.

Origin:
1885–90, Americanism; short for fanatic

Synonyms
supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict.

noun, plural Fans, (especially collectively

) Fan.

Fang.

Link To fan

Collins

World English Dictionary

fan¹ (fæn)

—n
1.	a. any device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or number of surfaces, esp a rotating device consisting of a number of blades attached to a central hub
	b. a machine that rotates such a device
2.	any of various hand-agitated devices for cooling onself, esp a collapsible semicircular series of flat segments of paper, ivory, etc
3.	something shaped like such a fan, such as the tail of certain birds
4.	agriculture
	a. a kind of basket formerly used for winnowing grain
	b. a machine equipped with a fan for winnowing or cleaning grain

—vb (often foll by out) , fans, fanning, fanned
5.	to cause a current of air, esp cool air, to blow upon, as by means of a fan: to fan one's face
6.	to agitate or move (air, smoke, etc) with or as if with a fan
7.	to make fiercer, more ardent, etc: fan one's passion
8.	to spread out or cause to spread out in the shape of a fan
9.	a. to fire (an automatic gun) continuously by keeping the trigger depressed
	b. to fire (a nonautomatic gun) several times by repeatedly chopping back the hammer with the palm
10.	to winnow (grain) by blowing the chaff away from it

[Old English fann, from Latin vannus]

'fanlike¹

—*adj*

'fanner¹

—n

fan² (fæn)

—n
1.	an ardent admirer of a pop star, film actor, football team, etc
2.	a devotee of a sport, hobby, etc

[C17, re-formed C19: from fan(atic)]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fan

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 late 14c.; the hand-held version is

EXPAND

first attested 1550s. Related: Fanned; fanning. To fan out "spread out like a hand-held fan," is from 1590s. A fan-light (1819) originally was shaped like a lady's fan.

fan

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.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

fan definition

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.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

FAN

Fetal Alcohol Network
Food Allergy Network

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Fan definition

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
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

fan

In addition to the idiom beginning with fan, also see shit will hit the fan.