# fan

Pronunciation: US say "FAN" /fæn/; UK say "FAHN" /faːn/

## Noun

1. Someone who likes a thing or person a great deal, particularly a person who admires a performer or follows a sport keenly.
   - Simple: Someone who likes a person, team, or thing very much.
   - _He has been a devoted fan of the club since childhood._
   - _The author thanked her loyal fans at the book signing._
2. A device for moving air, either a machine with blades turned by a motor or a flat or folding object waved by hand, used to cool or ventilate.
   - Simple: A machine with turning blades, or a thing you wave by hand, used to move air.
   - _Engineers installed a fan to draw heat away from the server racks._
   - _On hot nights she sleeps with two fans running._
4. Something shaped like an opened hand-held fan, such as a peacock's spread tail or a palm frond.
   - Simple: A part or object shaped like an open hand fan, spreading wide at one end.
   - _The bird raised its feathers into a shimmering fan._
   - _Ferns unfurled into delicate fans along the path._
8. A stirring or movement of the air produced by fanning.
   - Simple: The act of moving air around by waving something back and forth.
   - _When the coals began to fade, he gave them a vigorous fan with a paper plate until they glowed red again._
   - _Every few minutes she gave the sleeping baby a gentle fan with a folded newspaper to keep him cool._
12. An instrument for winnowing grain, moved so that the grain is tossed and agitated while the chaff separates and blows away.
   - Simple: A tool used to toss grain so that the loose husks blow away.
   - _Grandmother bounced the threshed millet on a flat woven fan until the wind had carried off every bit of chaff._
   - _After the rice was pounded, she tossed it in a shallow winnowing fan, and the breeze carried the loose husks away._

## Verb

3. To move air onto someone or something, or to drive smoke, heat, or smells away, with a fan, another waved object, or a breeze.
   - Simple: To push air toward something or move smoke away by waving something or using a fan.
   - _She gently fanned the sleeping baby to keep him cool._
   - _Please fan the glowing coals so the fire catches._
5. To spread out, or to spread things out, in different directions from a single point, like an opened hand fan.
   - Simple: To spread out, or spread things out, from one point, like an open fan.
   - _Search teams fan out across the valley at first light._
   - _The delta's channels fanned out toward the sea._
6. To make something grow stronger or more intense, as moving air makes flames burn higher.
   - Simple: To make a feeling or situation grow stronger, like making a fire burn higher.
   - _The editorial fanned long-simmering resentment in the town._
   - _Bold promises only fan hopes that may never be met._
7. In baseball, to strike out a batter, or (of a batter) to strike out.
   - Simple: In baseball, to get a batter out with three strikes, or to be out this way.
   - _She fanned the cleanup hitter with a wicked curveball._
   - _Top pitchers regularly fan the league's best sluggers._
9. To rapidly fire an old-style revolver by repeatedly striking back the hammer with the free hand.
   - Simple: To fire an old-style revolver quickly by slapping its hammer with the free hand.
   - _He fanned the single-action Colt, sending shots downrange almost too fast to count._
   - _Trick shooters fan their revolvers to fire rapidly, though accuracy suffers._
10. To slap someone, especially on the backside, with an open hand.
   - Simple: To slap someone on the bottom with an open hand.
   - _When she caught the boys raiding the cookie jar, their mother threatened to fan their pants._
   - _Grandpa warned that he would fan our behinds if we slammed the screen door one more time._
11. To winnow grain by tossing it so that the chaff is separated and blown away.
   - Simple: To toss grain in moving air so the loose husks blow away.
   - _Workers fan the threshed grain on breezy afternoons._
   - _The miller fanned the rye until only clean kernels remained._

## Noun

13. A dated unit of length equal to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or about 0.00371 meters. *(dated, Hong Kong)*
   - Simple: An old unit of length equal to about 3.7 millimeters.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In mathematics, a tree in which every node has only a finite number of branches.
- (noun) A small vane or sail at the back of a windmill that automatically keeps the main sails turned to face the wind.
- (verb) To apply a train's air brake repeatedly in rapid succession.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–12** — Inherited from Middle English "fan" and Old English "fann" (a winnowing fan), from Latin "vannus" (a fan for winnowing grain), traditionally traced to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to blow." On that view it is related to Latin "ventus" (wind) and to "winnow."
**Meaning 1** — A clipping of "fanatic," originally US baseball slang. "Fanatic" comes from Latin "fānāticus," with influence from French "fanatique." The word was possibly also influenced by "fancy" (a group of sport or hobby enthusiasts).
**Meaning 13** — From Cantonese 分, a doublet of "fen" and "hoon."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fan (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).