fan
fan is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 7 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.2. 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.
- 2.A quintain; -- from its form. [Obs.] Chaucer. 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), any shell of the family Pectinidæ. 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).
- 3.To move as with a fan. The air . . . fanned with unnumbered plumes. Milton.
- 4.To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan.
- 5.To ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion. Calm as the breath which fans our eastern groves. Dryden.
- 6.To winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air; as, to fan wheat. Jer. li.
- 7.5. To excite or stir up to activity, as a fan axcites 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.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- add
- aerial
- aeriform
- aerography
- aerology
- aerometer
- aerometry
- aeronaut
- aeronautics
- aeroscope
- aeroscopy
- aerosphere
- aerostation
- aggravate
- aggravating
- aggravation
- air
- airy
- amianth
- amianthus
- and
- aneroid
- annihilator
- asbestos
- atmosphere
- atmospheric
- attic
- bad
- bait
- barometer
- baroscope
- belle
- benumb
- better
- bite
- blue
- box
- brace
- bracing
- break
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Reverse-dictionary questions
Definition-first questions whose answer is fan.
- What is 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 called?
- What is to move as with a fan. The air . . . fanned with unnumbered plumes. Milton called?
- What is to cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan called?
- What is to ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion. Calm as the breath which fans our eastern groves. Dryden called?
- What is to winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air; as, to fan wheat. Jer. li called?
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms & antonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/fan
- Steward: Jason Burns