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.
Horology. fly.
a semicircular decoration of bunting.
Physical Geography. an alluvial fan.
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.
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.
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
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
an ardent admirer of a pop star, film actor, football team, etc
a devotee of a sport, hobby, etc
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.
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English fann, from Latin vannus “winnowing basket”
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; short for fanatic
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, an Everton fan, decried the plan saying football was not a product in a post on X.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Marvel Studios’ president and producer Kevin Feige announced the new title Saturday at the annual fan and industry event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Inferno,” the first album from Boards of Canada in 13 years, should satisfy the beloved electronic duo’s devoted fan base.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Content tagged #backrooms on TikTok exceeds half a million posts, while Instagram fan pages such as @xbackroom, which have hundreds of thousands of followers, further extend the mythology through images, edits and speculative storytelling.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
"Maybe Mr. Drippy has a fan club you can join!"
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
Another title - I am Fan Yusu - an autobiographical essay about a migrant worker's personal struggle, swept the Chinese internet in 2017.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
But what really made Platner appealing to Moraff and Fan didn’t have anything to do with the kind of person he was or what was, or wasn’t, on his résumé.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
"For general purpose robots, it will take longer," said Daniel Fan of Innodisk, which makes parts for robots.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
The “Dream Fan Fest,” which draws thousands each day, also features youth soccer clinics, giveaways and appearances by Mets, Jets and Giants players.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
My Uncle Fan would not listen to foreign radio broadcasts or worry about psychological pressure.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
Fans will get to hear the new material live when Charli headlines the Reading & Leeds festival next month.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Fans wanted Fury and Joshua to meet when both were world champions and at the peak of their powers rather than after years of negotiations, failed talks and defeats.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Fans are flocking to normal digital presentations too, Phoenix Theatres president Cory Jacobson noted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Fans prepared to spend five figures book all-inclusive cycling trips where teams of concierges do everything but pedal the bike for them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Fans were fighting to get close to him, to shake his hand.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
For a club to have spent as much as Chelsea, it is no surprise fans might be frustrated with the returns - or lack of them.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Over the years some fans have even suggested that Gough should be the next prime minister.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Do Lakers fans remember Doncic’s 17 assists to guys like Dante Exum, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Grant Williams in a 2023 victory over LeBron and Anthony Davis?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
He has already played for his national team and attracted fans from his home country to both the open training session on Sunday and the match on Tuesday in Sydney.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Behind the backboard, a bunch of those fans I posed with were holding up their sink it, ed! signs.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
The flames were only fanned when James’s agent, Rich Paul, publicly discussed the various franchises making their pitches at the start of July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Temperatures topped 40C and gusts of hot wind fanned the flames in the southern Italian island, where wildfires have been raging for several days.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Ferns responded to and delivered the fuel that fanned the flames, triggering repeated massive wildfires. A truly hellish world."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Producers need oil tankers—some have now fanned out across the world—to ferry their cargoes and sail back to load more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
She fanned out a picnic blanket for lunch while I found the shallow creek and learned how chilly and perfect the water felt on my feet.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
Walking out to the pitch, Messi leads, De Paul at his side, the rest of the squad fanning out behind almost in a wedge - like a street gang protecting its leader.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Both main contracts soared around eight percent, with Brent topping $80 a barrel for the first time in two weeks, fanning fresh fears of a spike in inflation and a hit to the economy.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Officers began fanning through the park and pushing back people they encountered.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
"People who are donating money are causing the problem of animal cruelty here, because they keep on fuelling it, they are fanning the fire," says Kakooza.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
Candace and Remy began fanning Gregory's mouth too.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
