fan
noun
any device for producing a current of air by the movement of a broad surface or a number of such surfaces.
fan
1 American
[fan]
/ fæn /
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.
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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.
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a series of revolving blades supplying air for winnowing or cleaning grain.
-
Horology. fly.
-
a semicircular decoration of bunting.
-
Physical Geography. an alluvial fan.
verb (used with object)
-
fans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fanned,
past participle, past
-
fanning
present participle
-
to move or agitate (the air) with or as if with a fan.
-
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.
-
to stir to activity with or as if with a fan.
to fan a flame; to fan emotions.
-
(of a breeze, current of air, etc.) to blow upon, as if driven by a fan.
A cool breeze fanned the shore.
-
to spread out like a fan.
The dealer fanned the cards.
-
Informal. to move (oneself ) quickly.
You'll fan your tail out of here if you know what's good for you.
-
Agriculture. to winnow, especially by an artificial current of air.
-
Baseball. (of a pitcher) to strike out (a batter).
-
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)
-
fans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fanned,
past participle, past
-
fanning
present participle
-
to strike, swing, or brush lightly at something.
-
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.
-
to spread out like a fan (often followed byout ).
The forest fire fanned out in all directions.
-
Baseball. (of a batter) to strike out, usually by swinging at and missing the pitch charged as the third strike.
idioms
fan
2
American
[fan]
/ fæn /
noun
Fan
3
American
[fan, fahn]
/ fæn, fɑn /
noun
-
Fans,
plural
-
Fan
plural
fan
1
British
/ fæn /
noun
-
-
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
-
a machine that rotates such a device
-
-
any of various hand-agitated devices for cooling onself, esp a collapsible semicircular series of flat segments of paper, ivory, etc
-
something shaped like such a fan, such as the tail of certain birds
-
agriculture
-
a kind of basket formerly used for winnowing grain
-
a machine equipped with a fan for winnowing or cleaning grain
-
verb
-
to cause a current of air, esp cool air, to blow upon, as by means of a fan
to fan one's face
-
to agitate or move (air, smoke, etc) with or as if with a fan
-
to make fiercer, more ardent, etc
fan one's passion
-
to spread out or cause to spread out in the shape of a fan
-
-
to fire (an automatic gun) continuously by keeping the trigger depressed
-
to fire (a nonautomatic gun) several times by repeatedly chopping back the hammer with the palm
-
-
to winnow (grain) by blowing the chaff away from it
fan
2
British
/ fæn /
noun
-
an ardent admirer of a pop star, film actor, football team, etc
-
a devotee of a sport, hobby, etc
fan
More Idioms
Usage
Where does fan come from? Is the word fan, as in a device with rotating blades, related in any way to a fan, as in an enthusiastic devotee? Whether in cooling a room or cheering for a team, both fans do move a lot of air, as it were. But no, these senses of fan come from very different—though equally fantastic—roots. Fan, the deviceLet’s start with fan in the sense of “any device for producing a current of air.” This fan is very old, recorded in English before 900. It comes from the Old English, fann, directly from the Latin vannus, a “winnowing basket.”Winnowing basket? This calls for a lesson in agricultural history. A winnowing basket is a type of broad, shallow basket used to winnow, that is, to free grain from lighter particles of chaff, dirt, and the like. This can be done, as shown in the video below, by tossing the grain, allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away the chaff and any impurities. A winnowing basket is what fan originally meant in English. The word fan expanded to refer to other kinds of devices used to blow away chaff. By association with the movement of air involved in winnowing, fan further expanded to name various devices for generating currents of air, especially for cooling and ventilation. Fan, the devotee Now, onto to that other fan, the kind that fills arenas for sporting and music events. This fan is “an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, or similar.” It was shortened from fanatic, “a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.”A fan is passionate, yes, but compared to a fanatic, the connotation of the word fan is generally much less extreme and uncritical. Fan was first recorded in American English around 1885–90. Early uses of fan refer to baseball die-hards before spreading to all sorts of other ardent followers. Dig deeperThe word fanatic has an interesting origin of its own. Entering English around 1515–25, fanatic derives from the Latin fānāticus, “pertaining to a temple.” Fānāticus came to refer to people seen as “frantic” and “enthusiastic”—people thought to be inspired by a divinity or orgiastic rites. Fānāticus is based on the noun fānum, “temple, sanctuary.” Discover more at profane.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fansimple
-
fanssimple
-
have fannedperfect
-
has fannedperfect
-
am fanningprogressive
-
are fanningprogressive
-
is fanningprogressive
-
have been fanningperfect progressive
-
has been fanningperfect progressive
Past
-
fannedsimple
-
had fannedperfect
-
was fanningprogressive
-
were fanningprogressive
-
had been fanningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fan1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English fann, from Latin vannus “winnowing basket”
Origin of fan2
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; short for fanatic
Explanation
A fan cools you by moving the air around you. During the warmest weeks of the summer, it's easier to sleep if you have a fan in your bedroom. Some fans are electric: you plug them in and a large blade turns fast and blows air around the room. Hand fans are small enough to hold, and as you wave them back and forth, they send puffs of air over your hot face. To do this is to fan yourself. A completely different fan is the one who follows a sports team or a rock band devotedly: "The fans jumped to their feet and cheered."
Vocabulary lists containing fan
"Play Ball!"
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"Analysis of Baseball" and "Singing and Stretching"
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Comic Book Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I'm a fan of Antonio's voice, and I have been a fan for a long time," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
"If the fire is big and you fan it, it really gets bigger."
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
And Jessie, when she worked with him on that, was a big fan.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
If you’re already a fan of China Miéville, you will love this book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
I rush to the bathroom and turn on the fan, a smile still plastered on my face.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
It was unclear how Liao Fan managed to evade the blockade, but it is possible it unloaded Iranian-linked goods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The blockbuster franchise has moved away from its emphasis on storytelling to prioritize big fights and action sequences, the “Spider-Noir” actor lamented during a recent appearance at Fan Expo Dallas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Fever said in a statement that arena security spoke with the man and witnesses and “determined there was no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
Chinese state media has attributed Hengli’s accomplishments to Chen and Fan, saying they transformed a small textile factory into the country’s third-largest privately owned company through hard work and business savvy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The Dancing Fan was dancing harder than it had ever danced before.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Fans of the subgenre, known and loved for its depiction of journalism’s slow yet effective behind-the-scenes processes, might see this as a fatal flaw.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Fans on TikTok saw echoes of his hairstyle everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Fans have been warned against buying fakes, with police saying, external they can be "manufactured without regard for safety standards or workers' rights" and Trading Standards warning that "counterfeiters have no morals and no standards".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Fans want to know who is to blame for the humiliation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Fans are calling for a redo of the match.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Cole said he expects the 2027 tour to draw an estimated 4.3 million fans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some flight attendants say they aren’t fans of the bags, which can be prone to leaks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I do believe that fans at that show are going to be able to see things they’ve never seen before, and also every single seat is a great seat,” Cole said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
He says it was "extremely important" for the film to stay faithful to the series, describing it as "a movie made by fans for fans", who can expect "meticulous" attention to detail.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“It seems you have many fans, Ms. Durand. I'll see to it that this is reflected in the records.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
The spike in oil prices fanned inflation fears again and put fresh upward pressure on government bond yields to multi-year highs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Tuesday’s scene was a mixture of confusion and chaos, with first responders fanned out across two catastrophes and television news teams desperately trying to find out whether their journalists were safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Asian stocks fell Thursday as oil prices extended gains a day after breaking the psychological $100 barrier on the back of resurgent Middle East hostilities that have fanned inflation fears.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Tucakovic said the firestorm burned through "everything in their path" as officials confirmed flames, fanned by strong winds, engulfed 1,000 hectares in just four hours.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Her black kinky curls fanned around the familiar face like swirling hurricane clouds.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Constantly high fuel costs have pushed up inflation since the start of the war at the end of February, fanning rate hike bets and pushing bond yields to levels not seen since the 2000s.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
And more worryingly, retail diesel prices remain at a record high around $5.90 a gallon, fanning concerns about inflation as global financial markets are under strain from a bond selloff and U.S. dollar weakness.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
“They were going around fanning people, handing out barf bags left and right.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
On an overcast Wednesday morning in Salt Lake City this summer, four bicyclists gathered in an industrial area not far from the city’s airport before fanning out across town.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Chestnutt was fanning the little drama queen with her ears.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
