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   Fan

   /fan/

   

   noun

   • 1. an apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or ventilation: "a couple of ceiling fans, lazily turning"
   • ▪ a small sail for keeping the head of a windmill toward the wind.
   • 2. a device, typically folding and shaped like a segment of a circle when spread out, that is held in the hand and waved so as to cool the person holding it by causing the air to move: "the girls were giggling behind their fans"
   • ▪ a thing or shape resembling an open handheld fan: "fan vaulting"
   • ▪ an alluvial or talus deposit spread out in an open fan shape at the foot of a slope: "there are great waste fans at the foot of the Andes in the desert"
   • 3. a device for winnowing grain.

   verb

   • 1. cool (especially a person or a part of the body) by waving something to create a current of air: "he fanned himself with his hat" Similar coolairaerateblowventilatefreshenrefresh
   • ▪ (of breath or a breeze) blow gently on: "his breath fanned her skin as he leaned toward her"
   • ▪ brush or drive away with a waving movement: "a veil of smoke which she fanned away with a jeweled hand"
   • ▪ swing at and miss the ball or puck: "he had fanned 37 times in 83 at-bats"
   • ▪ (of a batter) strike out.
   • ▪ (of a pitcher) strike out (a batter): "Norris fanned nine batters with his screwball"
   • 2. increase the strength of (a fire) by blowing on it or stirring up the air near it: "gusty wind fanned fires in Yellowstone Park"
   • ▪ cause (a belief or emotion) to become stronger or more widespread: "long-range weather forecasts fanned fears of drought damage" Similar intensifyincreaseagitateinflameexacerbatestimulatestir upwork upwhip upincitefuelanimateignitekindletriggersparkinstigatearouseexciteprovokefoment
   • 3. disperse or radiate from a central point to cover a wide area: "the arriving passengers began to fan out through the town in search of lodgings" Similar spreadopenbranchstretchoutspreadunfurlunfold
   • ▪ spread out or cause to spread out into a semicircular shape: "a dress made of tiny pleats that fanned out as she walked"

   Word Origin Old Englishfann (as a noun denoting a device for winnowing grain), fannian (verb), from Latin vannus ‘winnowing fan’. Compare with vane.

   Derivatives

   • 1. fanlike adjective
   • 2. fanner noun

   Scrabble Points: 6

   • F

     4

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

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