fan

plural fans

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.

   How apt is the flutter of the fan to express the different affections of the belle: there is the angry flutter, the modest flutter, the timorous flutter, the confused flutter etc.

   1876, August Paul, Addison's Influence on the Social Reform of His Age, T.G. Meissner, page 55

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.

   1998, Brock Thoene, Bodie Thoene, A New Frontier: Saga of the Sierras, page 181

4. Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail or a leaf of fan coral.

   “My roses are red,” it answered, “as red as the feet of the dove, and redder than the great fans of coral that wave and wave in the ocean-cavern.”

   1888, Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, in The Happy Prince and Other Tales, London: Duckworth, published 1928, page 43

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.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 30:24

   1 more example

   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.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 3:12

6. A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
7. card gamesA group of overlapping cards exposed in various patience games.
8. mathematicsA section of a tree having a finite number of branches.

present singular third person fans · participle present fanning · participle past fanned · past fanned

1. transitiveTo 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.

   1 more example

   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: […]

   1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Pool of Tears”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 19

2. transitiveTo 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.

   1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 148

3. intransitiveusually to fan outTo move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
4. transitiveTo dispel by waving a hand-held fan.

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

5. transitiveengineeringTo 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.

   2011, Hans-Christoan Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14

6. figurativelyTo invigorate, like flames when fanned.

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

   1923, Arthur Symons, Love's Cruelty, page 43

7. To winnow grain.

   1 more example

   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."

   1856, François Réal Angers Lelièvre, Lower Canada reports

8. transitiverail transportTo 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. intransitiveball gamesTo strike out.
10. transitiveball gamesTo strike out (a batter).
11. intransitivehobbiesTo fail to properly shoot or pass the puck.

plural fans · colloquial plural fen

1. 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 cricket.

   1 more example

   I am a big fan of libraries.

1. Hong KongdatedA 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.

   1939, chapter XI, in Colonial Reports - Annual Issues, page 37

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?

   1870, Thomas Wright, The bane of a life, volume 2, page 109

   1 more example

   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.

   1917, Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself, page 173

1. A county of Puyang, Henan, China.

   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,[…]

   2012 December 15, “China Digest, December 15, 2012”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Dec 2012, China

   5 more examples

   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[...]

   1966, Tien-chien Hwang, Communist China's Setbacks and Internal Tensions in 1965, volume 2, →OCLC, →OL, page 34

   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.

   [1980, Li Mingxin (Li Min-Hsin), Li Ping, Li Baorong (Li Pao-Jung), “Recent Progress in Research on Esophageal Cancer in China”, in Advances in Cancer Research, volume 33, Academic Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 193

   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).

   The History and Civilization of China

   2003, Yingpin (张英聘) Zhang, “Chasing the Deer on the Central Plains Seeking Control of the Empire”, in 中国历史与文明 [The History and Civilization of China], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 38

   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.

   2015, Keisuke Ikehata, Yao Jin, Nima Maleky, Aijun Lin, “Heavy Metal Pollution in Water Resources in China—Occurrences and Public Health Implications”, in Sanjay K. Sharma, editor, Heavy Metals In Water: Presence, Removal and Safety, Royal Society of Chemistry, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 160

   The average trip expense per time for each patient from Fan County People’s Hospital of Puyang City or Zhenping County People’s Hospital of Nanyang City to Henan Provincial People’s Hospital by common transportation vehicles was 100 RMB.

   2019, Liu Luwen et al., “Initial Experience of the Synchronized, Real-Time, Interactive, Remote Transthoracic Echocardiogram Consultation System in Rural China: Longitudinal Observational Study”, in JMIR Medical Informatics, volume 7, number 3, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC

2. A surname from Mandarin.

1. rail transportThe station code of Fanling in Hong Kong.

plural FANs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of file area network.
2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebeveragesInitialism of free amino nitrogen, amino acids available for yeast metabolism.