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.

Pilots had fanned out to airports in South Florida, Charlotte, Houston and Columbus, Ohio, to go pick up the stranded jets.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

In little more than an hour, dozens of settlers had fanned out across the hills.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025

The funeral took place away from the glare of the media and in stark contrast to the brazen, self-publicising style with which Prigozhin had fanned his reputation far beyond Russia for ruthlessness and ambition.

From Reuters • Aug. 29, 2023

By the 1970s, the practice had fanned out beyond medicine and into politics, particularly the women’s movement and the civil rights movement.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2022

America’s pride in its growing power and international stature had fanned patriotism to a new intensity.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson