fan
♦♦ fan /f'æn/ (fans fanning fanned)
1 [N-COUNT] usu n N, N of n
If you are a fan of someone or something, especially a famous person or a sport, you like them very much and are very interested in them.
As a boy he was a Manchester United fan...
I am a great fan of rave music.
2 [N-COUNT]
A fan is a flat object that you hold in your hand and wave in order to move the air and make yourself feel cooler.
3 [VERB] V pron-refl, V n
If you fan yourself or your face when you are hot, you wave a fan or other flat object in order to make yourself feel cooler.
She would have to wait in the truck, fanning herself with a piece of cardboard...
Mo kept bringing me out refreshments and fanning me as it was that hot.
4 [N-COUNT] oft supp N
A fan is a piece of electrical or mechanical equipment with blades that go round and round. It keeps a room or machine cool or gets rid of unpleasant smells.
He cools himself in front of an electric fan.
...an extractor fan.
5 [VERB] V n
If you fan a fire, you wave something flat next to it in order to make it burn more strongly. If a wind fans a fire, it blows on it and makes it burn more strongly.
During the afternoon, hot winds fan the flames.
6 [VERB] V n
If someone fans an emotion such as fear, hatred, or passion, they deliberately do things to make people feel the emotion more strongly.
He said students were fanning social unrest with their violent protests.
= fuel
7
to fan the flames: see flame
the shit hit the fan: see shitfan base (fan bases)
or fanbase
[N-COUNT] usu sing with poss
The fan base of someone such as a pop star or a pop group is their fans, considered as a whole.
His fan base is mostly middle-aged ladies.fan belt (fan belts)
[N-COUNT]
In a car engine, the fan belt is the belt that drives the fan which keeps the engine cool.fan club (fan clubs)
[N-COUNT]
A fan club is an organized group of people who all admire the same person or thing, for example a pop singer or pop group. Members of the fan club receive information and can take part in activities such as trips to concerts.fan out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a group of people or things fan out, they move forwards away from a particular point in different directions.
The main body of British, American, and French troops had fanned out to the west...
= spread out
1 [N-COUNT] usu n N, N of n
If you are a fan of someone or something, especially a famous person or a sport, you like them very much and are very interested in them.
As a boy he was a Manchester United fan...
I am a great fan of rave music.
2 [N-COUNT]
A fan is a flat object that you hold in your hand and wave in order to move the air and make yourself feel cooler.
3 [VERB] V pron-refl, V n
If you fan yourself or your face when you are hot, you wave a fan or other flat object in order to make yourself feel cooler.
She would have to wait in the truck, fanning herself with a piece of cardboard...
Mo kept bringing me out refreshments and fanning me as it was that hot.
4 [N-COUNT] oft supp N
A fan is a piece of electrical or mechanical equipment with blades that go round and round. It keeps a room or machine cool or gets rid of unpleasant smells.
He cools himself in front of an electric fan.
...an extractor fan.
5 [VERB] V n
If you fan a fire, you wave something flat next to it in order to make it burn more strongly. If a wind fans a fire, it blows on it and makes it burn more strongly.
During the afternoon, hot winds fan the flames.
6 [VERB] V n
If someone fans an emotion such as fear, hatred, or passion, they deliberately do things to make people feel the emotion more strongly.
He said students were fanning social unrest with their violent protests.
= fuel
7
to fan the flames: see flame
the shit hit the fan: see shitfan base (fan bases)
or fanbase
[N-COUNT] usu sing with poss
The fan base of someone such as a pop star or a pop group is their fans, considered as a whole.
His fan base is mostly middle-aged ladies.fan belt (fan belts)
[N-COUNT]
In a car engine, the fan belt is the belt that drives the fan which keeps the engine cool.fan club (fan clubs)
[N-COUNT]
A fan club is an organized group of people who all admire the same person or thing, for example a pop singer or pop group. Members of the fan club receive information and can take part in activities such as trips to concerts.fan out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a group of people or things fan out, they move forwards away from a particular point in different directions.
The main body of British, American, and French troops had fanned out to the west...
= spread out