fan1
• noun 1 an apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or ventilation. 2 a hand-held device, typically folding and circular, that is waved so as to cool the user. • verb (fanned, fanning) 1 cool by waving something to create a current of air. 2 (of an air current) increase the strength of (a fire). 3 cause (a belief or emotion) to become stronger. 4 (fan out) spread out from a central point to cover a wide area. — ORIGIN Latin vannus ‘winnowing fan’.
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