fan

noun

1. A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
2. An electrical or mechanical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.

   “He didn't switch on the fan because the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.”

3. The action of fanning; agitation of the air.

   “"If I cannot be of service, then I certainly don't wish to impose," said McGinty, with a quick fan of breeze that indicated a sweeping bow.”

4. Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
5. An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.

   “The oxen likewise and the yong asses that eare the ground, shall eate cleane prouender which hath bene winnowed with the shouell and with the fanne.”

   “Whose fanne is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floore, and gather his wheat into the garner: but wil burne vp the chaffe with vnquenchable fire.”

6. A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
7. A group of overlapping cards exposed in various patience games.
8. A section of a tree having a finite number of branches.
9. A person who is fond of something or someone, especially an admirer of a performer or aficionado of a sport.

   “I am a big fan of libraries.”

   “I am a big fan of cricket.”

10. (Hong-Kong, dated)A unit of length, equivalent to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or 0.00371475 metres.

    “1 chek (foot) = 14⅝ English inches divided into 10 tsün (inches) and each tsün into ten fan or tenths.”

11. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of file area network.
12. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of free amino nitrogen, amino acids available for yeast metabolism.

verb

1. (transitive)To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.

   “We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind.”

   “Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: […]”

2. (transitive)To slap (a behind, especially).

   “Part of it was that as much as I respected filial devotion and as much as I liked Sarah Barstow, it would have been a real satisfaction to put her across my knees and pull up her skirts and giver^([sic]) her a swell fanning, for not taking a look at that driver.”

3. (intransitive)To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
4. (transitive)To dispel by waving a hand-held fan.

   “I attempted to fan the disagreeable odour out of the room.”

5. (transitive)To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.

   “To fan a single action revolver, hold down the trigger and strike the hammer repeatedly with a free hand.”

6. (figuratively)To invigorate, like flames when fanned.

   “She comes, to fan my ardour, She kills me with her kisses.”

7. To winnow grain.

   “By the first article, these fanning mills were appointed to be sent to the proprietors of the mills of Sault-à-la puce, Petit-Pré, Beauport, Pointe de Lévy, St. Nicolas and Ste. Famille in the isle of Orleans " to have all the wheat in general of whatever quality sent to these mills passed and fanned, before converting them into flour."”

8. (transitive)To apply (the air brake) many times in rapid succession.

   “Fanning the brakes results in the gradual depletion of the pressure in the cars' brake reservoirs, which can eventually cause a loss of all braking.”

9. (intransitive)To strike out.
10. (transitive)To strike out (a batter).
11. (intransitive)To fail to properly shoot or pass the puck.

name

1. A diminutive of Frances.

   “I see now what brings you about our house so much. You want to get hold of Fan and her business and little savings for yourself, do you?”

   “Listen, Fan. That cowardly, sickly little boy you fought for in the street, that day in Winnebago, showed every sign of growing up a cowardly, sickly man.”

2. A county of Puyang, Henan, China.

   “In a report boasting of the rich supply of commodities in Fan County of Honan Province , the Peiping Ta Kung Pao of 1 December 1965 pointed out: “ Within 10 days before the autumn festival of this year, the commercial organs in Fan County[...]”

   “In a commune in Fanxian county, Henan province, a low-incidence area, two cases of pharyngoesophageal cancer were detected among 11,399 chickens over 6 months of age, showing an incidence rate of 17.55 per 100,000.”

   “In 341 B. C., King Wei of Qi chose Tian Ji and Tian Ying as general, Sun Bin as military counselor to lead the troops in fighting against Wei to rescue Han. Again, they gave Wei a severe blow at Maling (to the southwest of modern Fan County, Henan Province).”

   “A young entrepreneur who stunned friends and family by quitting his job in Beijing to be a farmer in his hometown of Fan county has made himself a multimillionaire selling organic produce,[…]”

   “They found that the concentration of iron, manganese, selenium and zinc in groundwater exceeded the standards in some of the study areas, including Wucheng County, Dong'e County, Guan County and Yucheng City in Shandong, as well as Fan County in Henan.”

3. A surname from Mandarin.
4. The station code of Fanling in Hong Kong.