/ fæn; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a person who admires sb/sth or enjoys watching or listening to sb/sth very much :
movie fans
crowds of football fans
a big fan of Pavarotti
fan mail (= letters from fans to the person they admire)
2.
a machine with blades that go round to create a current of air :
to switch on the electric fan
a fan heater
—see also extractor
3.
a thing that you hold in your hand and wave to create a current of cool air
•
IDIOMS
see shit noun
■ verb ( -nn- ) [ vn ]
1.
to make air blow onto sb/sth by waving a fan, your hand, etc. :
He fanned himself with a newspaper to cool down.
2.
to make a fire burn more strongly by blowing on it :
Fanned by a westerly wind, the fire spread rapidly through the city.
3.
( literary ) to make a feeling, an attitude, etc. stronger
SYN fuel :
His reluctance to answer her questions simply fanned her curiosity.
•
IDIOMS
- fan the flames (of sth)
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- fan out | fan sth out
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 2 to 3 and verb Old English fann (as a noun denoting a device for winnowing grain), fannian (verb), from Latin vannus winnowing fan. Compare with vane .
noun sense 1 late 19th cent. (originally US): abbreviation of fanatic .