fan

Noun

fan (plural fans)

1. A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
3. An electrical or mechanical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
4. The action of fanning; agitation of the air.
   • 1998, Brock Thoene, Bodie Thoene, A New Frontier: Saga of the Sierras, page 181:

     "If I cannot be of service, then I certainly don't wish to impose," said McGinty, with a quick fan of breeze that indicated a sweeping bow.

5. Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
6. An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 30:24:

     The oxen likewise and the yong asses that eare the ground, shall eate cleane prouender which hath bene winnowed with the shouell and with the fanne.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 3:12:

     Whose fanne is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floore, and gather his wheat into the garner: but wil burne vp the chaffe with vnquenchable fire.

7. A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
8. (mathematics) A section of a tree having a finite number of branches

Verb

fan (third-person singular simple present fans, present participle fanning, simple past and past participle fanned)

1. (transitive) To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.

   We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind.

   • 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Pool of Tears”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 19:

     Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: […]

2. (transitive) To slap (a behind, especially).
   • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 148:

     Part of it was that as much as I respected filial devotion and as much as I liked Sarah Barstow, it would have been a real satisfaction to put her across my knees and pull up her skirts and giver^[sic] her a swell fanning, for not taking a look at that driver.

3. (intransitive, usually to fan out) To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
4. (transitive) To dispel by waving a hand-held fan.

   I attempted to fan the disagreeable odour out of the room.

5. (firearms, transitive) To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.
   • 2011, Hans-Christoan Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14:

     To fan a single action revolver, hold down the trigger and strike the hammer repeatedly with a free hand.

6. (figurative) To invigorate, like flames when fanned.
   • 1923, Arthur Symons, Love's Cruelty, page 43:

     She comes, to fan my ardour, She kills me with her kisses.

7. To winnow grain.
   • 1856, François Réal Angers Lelièvre, Lower Canada reports:

     By the first article, these fanning mills were appointed to be sent to the proprietors of the mills of Sault-à-la puce, Petit-Pré, Beauport, Pointe de Lévy, St. Nicolas and Ste. Famille in the isle of Orleans " to have all the wheat in general of whatever quality sent to these mills passed and fanned, before converting them into flour."

8. (rail transport, transitive) To apply (the air brake) many times in rapid succession.

   Fanning the brakes results in the gradual depletion of the pressure in the cars' brake reservoirs, which can eventually cause a loss of all braking.

9. (baseball, intransitive) To strike out.
10. (baseball, transitive) To strike out (a batter).

Noun

fan (plural fans or fen)

2. A person who is fond of something or someone, especially an admirer of a performer or aficionado of a sport.

   I am a big fan of libraries.

Noun

fan (plural fan)

1. (Hong Kong, dated) A unit of length, equivalent to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or 0.00371475 metres.
   • 1939, chapter XI, in Colonial Reports - Annual Issues‎, page 37:

     1 chek (foot) = 14⅝ English inches divided into 10 tsün (inches) and each tsün into ten fan or tenths.

Noun

fan

1. egg

Noun

fan

1. direction, side

Usage notes

Often used in conjunction with adverbs, such as au (“up”), übar (“over”), abe (“down”).

Synonyms

• aanhanger
• bewonderaar
• supporter

Declension

Synonyms

• fani

Noun

fan m or f by sense (plural fans)

1. fan (admirer, supporter)

Noun

fan f (plural fans)

1. (North America) fan (ventilator)

Related terms

• famâ

Noun

fan m or f by sense (plural fans)

1. fan (admirer or aficionado)

Verb

fan

1. third-person plural present indicative of facer