fan¹ / fan/ • n. 1. an apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or ventilation.2. a device, typically folding and shaped like a segment of a circle when spread out, that is held in the hand and waved so as to cool the person holding it by causing the air to move. ∎  a thing or shape resembling such a device when open.3. a device for winnowing grain.• v. (fanned, fan·ning) 1. [tr.] cool (esp. a person or a part of the body) by waving something to create a current of air: he fanned himself with his hat. ∎  (of breath or a breeze) blow gently on. ∎  [tr.] brush or drive away with a waving movement: a veil of smoke which she fanned away with a jeweled hand. ∎  [intr.] Baseball & Ice Hockey swing at and miss the ball or puck. ∎  [intr.] Baseball (of a batter) strike out. ∎  Baseball (of a pitcher) strike out (a batter).2. [tr.] increase the strength of (a fire) by blowing on it or stirring up the air near it: gusty wind fanned fires in Yellowstone Park. ∎  cause (a belief or emotion) to become stronger or more widespread: long-range weather forecasts fanned fears of drought damage.3. [intr.] disperse or radiate from a central point to cover a wide area: the arriving passengers began to fan out through the town in search of lodgings. ∎  spread out or cause to spread out into a semicircular shape. fan² • n. a person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular sport, art form, or famous person: football fans.DERIVATIVES: fan·dom n.

Fan / fan; fän/ • n. & adj. variant spelling of Fang.

fan2 abbr. of FANATIC. An early isolated use (phan, fann) is recorded from late XVII; the present use dates from late XIX and is orig. U.S.

Fan (return to the source in Taoism): see FU.

fan1 instrument for winnowing grain OE.; instrument for agitating the air XIV. OE. fann — L. vannus.
Hence fan vb. OE. fannian. fanlight fan-shaped window over a door. XIX.