FAN


Meaning of FAN in English

I. fan 1 S3 W2 /fæn/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Sense 1: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: fanatic ]

[ Sense 2: Date: 700-800 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: vannus ]

1 . someone who likes a particular sport or performing art very much, or who admires a famous person:

Groups of football fans began heading towards the ground.

fan of

He’s a big fan of Elvis Presley.

fan mail/letters (=letters sent to famous people by their fans)

2 .

a) a machine with turning blades that is used to cool the air in a room by moving it around:

a ceiling fan

b) a flat object that you wave with your hand which makes the air cooler

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + fan

▪ a football/tennis/baseball etc fan

Jack is a keen football fan.

▪ a music/jazz/rock etc fan

Jazz fans are in for a treat at this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival.

▪ a film/movie fan

This book is a must for all film fans.

▪ a Manchester United/Redsox/Colts etc fan

Manchester United fans were delighted with their team’s victory.

▪ a Rolling Stones/Kylie Minogue etc fan

Mike has been a lifelong Kylie Minogue fan.

▪ a big/huge/massive fan

Elizabeth is a massive fan of Elton John.

▪ a devoted fan (=a strong supporter or admirer)

Devoted fans from all over the country have travelled to the concert.

▪ a loyal fan (=fans who always support someone)

He will be playing to hundreds of loyal fans on Sunday.

▪ adoring fans (=fans who like and admire someone very much)

She’s mobbed by adoring fans wherever she goes.

▪ sb’s number one fan

She told Dave that she was his number one fan.

▪ rival/opposing/opposition fans (=fans who support different teams competing against each other)

There were fights between rival fans outside the stadium.

▪ home fans (=fans at their own team’s sports field)

The home fans cheered the team onto the pitch.

▪ away fans (=fans visiting another team’s sports field)

Two sections of the ground had been allocated to away fans.

■ fan + NOUN

▪ fan mail

The group receives lots of fan mail.

▪ a fan club

Her fan club has 25,000 members in the UK alone.

▪ fan base (=the people who are someone’s biggest fans)

The band has built up a loyal fan base over the years.

■ verbs

▪ fans cheer/applaud (somebody/something)

Fans on both sides applauded their skill and spirit.

▪ fans boo (somebody/something)

Their own fans booed them off the pitch.

▪ fans chant something

England fans chanted his name.

▪ disappoint fans

The concert was cancelled, disappointing hundreds of fans.

II. fan 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] ( past tense and past participle fanned , present participle fanning )

1 . to make air move around by waving a fan, piece of paper etc so that you feel cooler

fan yourself

People in the audience were fanning themselves with their programmes.

2 . literary to make someone feel an emotion more strongly SYN fuel :

Her resistance only fanned his desire.

fan the flames (of something)

The book will serve to fan the flames of debate.

3 . fan a fire/flame etc to make a fire burn more strongly by blowing or moving the air near it:

The wind rose, fanning a few sparks in the brush.

fan out phrasal verb

1 . if a group of people fan out, they walk forwards while spreading over a wide area

2 . fan something ↔ out to spread out a group of things that you are holding so that they make a half-circle:

Fan the cards out, then pick one.

3 . if something such as hair or clothing fans out, it spreads out in many directions

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.