“fans” is a form of
fan
/fæn/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun 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.
- noun 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.”
- noun The action of fanning; agitation of the air.
- noun Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
- noun An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
- noun A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
- noun (card games) A group of overlapping cards exposed in various patience games.
- noun (mathematics) A section of a tree having a finite number of branches.
- verb (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.”
- verb (transitive) To slap (a behind, especially).
- verb (intransitive, usually to fan out) To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
- verb (transitive) To dispel by waving a hand-held fan. “I attempted to fan the disagreeable odour out of the room.”
- verb (firearms, transitive) To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.
- verb (figurative) To invigorate, like flames when fanned.
- verb To winnow grain.
- verb (rail transport, 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.”
- noun 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.”
- noun (Hong Kong, dated) A unit of length, equivalent to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or 0.00371475 metres.
- proper noun A diminutive of Frances.
- proper noun A county of Puyang, Henan, China.
Synonyms
admirer aficionado buff connoisseur enthusiast devotee maniac fanatic fancier fancy fiend freak geek junkie partisan rooter zealot Fanxian sports fan lover winnow
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
* Latin ventus (“wind”)
* Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”)
* German Wanne (“winnowing basket”)
* Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”)
* Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”).
Clipping of fanatic, originally in US baseball slang. Possibly influenced by fancy (“group of sport or hobby enthusiasts”), i.e. fancy boy (“fan”).
From Cantonese 分. Doublet of fen and hoon.
Shortening of Fanny, itself a short form of Frances.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun 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.
- verb To move as with a fan. The air . . . fanned with unnumbered plumes. Milton.
- verb To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan.
Etymology [AS. fann, fr. L. vannus fan, van for winnowing grain; cf. F. van. Cf. Van a winnowing machine, Winnow.]
Etymology [Cf. OF. vanner, L. vannere. See Fan, n., Van a winnowing machine.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fan”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details