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Fan   /fæn/   Listen
noun
Fan  n.  
1.
An instrument used for producing artificial currents of air, by the wafting or revolving motion of a broad surface; as:
(a)
An instrument for cooling the person, made of feathers, paper, silk, etc., and often mounted on sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a circle.
(b)
(Mach.) Any revolving vane or vanes used for producing currents of air, in winnowing grain, blowing a fire, ventilation, etc., or for checking rapid motion by the resistance of the air; a fan blower; a fan wheel.
(c)
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
(d)
Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a peacock's tail, a window, etc.
(e)
A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind. "Clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan."
2.
That which produces effects analogous to those of a fan, as in exciting a flame, etc.; that which inflames, heightens, or strengthens; as, it served as a fan to the flame of his passion.
3.
A quintain; from its form. (Obs.)
Fan blower, a wheel with vanes fixed on a rotating shaft inclosed in a case or chamber, to create a blast of air (fan blast) for forge purposes, or a current for draft and ventilation; a fanner.
Fan cricket (Zool.), a mole cricket.
Fan light (Arch.), a window over a door; so called from the semicircular form and radiating sash bars of those windows which are set in the circular heads of arched doorways.
Fan shell (Zool.), any shell of the family Pectinidae. See Scallop, n., 1.
Fan tracery (Arch.), the decorative tracery on the surface of fan vaulting.
Fan vaulting (Arch.), an elaborate system of vaulting, in which the ribs diverge somewhat like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic.
Fan wheel, the wheel of a fan blower.
Fan window. Same as Fan light (above).
electric fan. a fan having revolving blades for propelling air, powered by an electric motor.


verb
Fan  v. t.  (past & past part. fanned; pres. part. fanning)  
1.
To move as with a fan. "The air... fanned with unnumbered plumes."
2.
To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan.
3.
To ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion. "Calm as the breath which fans our eastern groves."
4.
To winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air; as, to fan wheat.
5.
To excite or stir up to activity, as a fan excites a flame; to stimulate; as, this conduct fanned the excitement of the populace.
Fanning machine, or Fanning mill, a machine for separating seed from chaff, etc., by a blast of air; a fanner.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Fan" Quotes from Famous Books



... I set up my own generating plant, using a 25 kilowatt generator driven by a Diesel engine which generated direct current so that I could use direct current motors which I already had among my machinery supplies. Then a separating machine, which required a 10 horse power motor just to operate the fan, which is part of that equipment, was purchased. Also, a nut cracking machine was secured from a West Coast manufacturer. Along with tanks and containers and other necessary equipment, all set up in a little factory building I had available ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting • Various
... and rosy, and the poet, with elaborate ceremony, handed his fair partner to a chair and began fanning her with "Muddie's" turkey-tail fan. He was in a glow of warmth and pleasure. His wonderful eyes shone like lamps. His pale cheeks were tinged with faint pink. While fanning Virginia with one hand he gently mopped the pleasant moisture from his brow with the other. Virginia's eyes ...
— The Dreamer - A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe • Mary Newton Stanard
... wit 'tis true, With all her merits, had her failings too: And would sometimes in mirthful moments use A style too flippant for a well-bred muse; Then female modesty abash'd began To seek the friendly refuge of the fan, Awhile behind that slight intrenchment stood, Till driven from thence, she left the stage for good. In our more pious, and far chaster times, These sure no longer are the Muse's crimes! But some complain that, ...
— Scarborough and the Critic • Sheridan
... looked as if a whirlwind had passed over it, for his ten fingers set it on end now and then, as they had a habit of doing when he studied or talked earnestly. But he looked so happy and wide awake, in spite of his dishevelment, that Rose gave an approving nod and said behind her fan: "It is a trying spectacle, Steve yet, on the whole, I think his own odd ways suit him best and I fancy we shall be proud of him, for he knows more than all the rest of us put together. Hear that now." And Rose paused that they ...
— Rose in Bloom - A Sequel to "Eight Cousins" • Louisa May Alcott
... compound ("pinnate" or feather-shaped) leaves of many palms are not strictly compound; that is, they do not arise from the branching of an originally single leaf, but are really broad, undivided leaves, which are closely folded like a fan in the bud, and tear apart along the folds as the ...
— Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany - For High Schools and Elementary College Courses • Douglas Houghton Campbell


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