Definition

1. Noun:

   • An enthusiastic admirer or supporter: A person who has a strong interest in and admiration for a particular person, team, activity, or thing.
   • A device for creating a current of air: A mechanical or hand-held object with blades or a flat surface that moves the air to cool people or things.

2. Verb:

   • To move air toward someone or something: To use a fan or a similar object to create a breeze.
   • To make an emotion or activity more intense: To stimulate or increase the strength of something, such as a feeling or a fire.
   • In baseball: To strike out a batter.

Usage Examples

• Noun (enthusiast):
  • She is a huge fan of classical music.
  • The football fans cheered loudly for their team.
• Noun (device):
  • He turned on the electric fan to cool the room.
  • She used a paper fan to cool her face.
• Verb (move air):
  • He fanned himself with a magazine.
  • The breeze fanned the leaves on the ground.
• Verb (intensify):
  • The speech fanned the flames of rebellion.
  • Rumors fanned public anxiety about the crisis.

Advanced Usage

• "Fan the flames": To make a situation, especially a conflict or a strong emotion, more intense or worse.
  • His angry comments only fanned the flames of the argument.
• "Fan out": To spread out from a central point in a shape resembling an open fan.
  • The search party fanned out across the field.

Variants and Related Words

• Fanatic (n): A person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, often for a cause. (More extreme than a fan).
  • He was a religious fanatic.
• Fandom (n): The state or condition of being a fan of someone or something; the community of fans for a particular interest.
  • The science fiction fandom gathered for the convention.
• Fanfare (n): A short, showy tune or a lot of publicity and activity. (Shares the root related to attracting attention).
  • The product launch was accompanied by much fanfare.

Synonyms

• Noun (enthusiast): Admirer, enthusiast, supporter, devotee, aficionado.
• Noun (device): Ventilator, blower, air circulator.
• Verb (move air): Cool, ventilate, blow, waft.
• Verb (intensify): Stir up, inflame, incite, stimulate, agitate.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Fan out: To spread apart over a wide area in different directions from a single point.
  • The police officers fanned out to search the building.
• Fan through: To look through something, like pages, quickly.
  • She fanned through the magazine looking for the article.

Related Idioms

• Fan the flames: To cause emotions, especially anger or excitement, to become stronger.
  • The politician's speech fanned the flames of discontent.
• Not a fan of (something/someone): To dislike or not be enthusiastic about something or someone. (Informal).
  • I'm not a fan of horror movies.

Noun

1. an ardent follower and admirer
2. an enthusiastic devotee of sports
3. a device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces

Verb

1. separate the chaff from by using air currents
   • She stood there winnowing chaff all day in the field
2. agitate the air
3. make (an emotion) fiercer
   • fan hatred
4. strike out (a batter), (of a pitcher)