(~s, ~ning, ~ned)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you are a ~ 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 ~...
I am a great ~ of rave music.
N-COUNT: usu n N, N of n
2.
A ~ is a flat object that you hold in your hand and wave in order to move the air and make yourself feel cooler.
N-COUNT
3.
If you ~ yourself or your face when you are hot, you wave a ~ or other flat object in order to make yourself feel cooler.
She would have to wait in the truck, ~ning herself with a piece of cardboard...
Mo kept bringing me out refreshments and ~ning me as it was that hot.
VERB: V pron-refl, V n
4.
A ~ 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 ~.
...an extractor ~.
N-COUNT: oft supp N
5.
If you ~ a fire, you wave something flat next to it in order to make it burn more strongly. If a wind ~s a fire, it blows on it and makes it burn more strongly.
During the afternoon, hot winds ~ the flames.
VERB: V n
6.
If someone ~s an emotion such as fear, hatred, or passion, they deliberately do things to make people feel the emotion more strongly.
He said students were ~ning social unrest with their violent protests.
= fuel
VERB: V n
7.
to ~ the flames: see flame
the shit hit the ~: see shit