From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_089_bfanfan1 /fæn/ ●●● S3 W2 noun [countable] 1 LIKE somebody OR somethingSUPPORT A PERSON, GROUP, OR PLANsomeone who likes a particular sport or performing art very much, or who admires a famous person Groups of football fans began heading towards the ground.fan of He’s a big fan of Elvis Presley.fan mail/letters (=letters sent to famous people by their fans)2 a) DCCa machine with turning blades that is used to cool the air in a room by moving it around a ceiling fan b) a flat object that you wave with your hand which makes the air coolerCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + fana football/tennis/baseball etc fanJack is a keen football fan.a music/jazz/rock etc fanJazz fans are in for a treat at this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival.a film/movie fanThis book is a must for all film fans.a Manchester United/Redsox/Colts etc fanManchester United fans were delighted with their team’s victory.a Rolling Stones/Kylie Minogue etc fanMike has been a lifelong Kylie Minogue fan.a big/huge/massive fanElizabeth is a massive fan of Elton John.a devoted fan (=a strong supporter or admirer)Devoted fans from all over the country have travelled to the concert.a loyal fan (=fans who always support someone)He will be playing to hundreds of loyal fans on Sunday.adoring fans (=fans who like and admire someone very much)She’s mobbed by adoring fans wherever she goes.somebody’s number one fanShe told Dave that she was his number one fan.rival/opposing/opposition fans (=fans who support different teams competing against each other)There were fights between rival fans outside the stadium.home fans (=fans at their own team’s sports field)The home fans cheered the team onto the pitch.away fans (=fans visiting another team’s sports field)Two sections of the ground had been allocated to away fans.fan + NOUNfan mailThe group receives lots of fan mail.a fan clubHer fan club has 25,000 members in the UK alone.fan base (=the people who are someone’s biggest fans)The band has built up a loyal fan base over the years.verbsfans cheer/applaud (somebody/something)Fans on both sides applauded their skill and spirit.fans boo (somebody/something)Their own fans booed them off the pitch.fans chant somethingEngland fans chanted his name.disappoint fansThe concert was cancelled, disappointing hundreds of fans.
Examples from the Corpus
fan• Fans of Sylvester Stallone will enjoy this movie.• Once, he threw a baseball in the stands that struck a fan in the chest.• Seating around the perimeter of the oval would allow fans a panoramic view over the entire track.• I'm not much of a basketball fan, but I love baseball.• a football fan• Over 200 British football fans were sent home after the violence in Rimini.• But he played splendid golf, which at least kept his fans in good spirits.• Those irate fans, however, may be mollified if the committee continues to deal consistently with all such offenders.• a beautiful, delicate Japanese fan• Leeds fans howled in anguish as Arsenal scored another goal.• Thousands of fans came to hear Oasis play.• Thousands of fans queued to buy tickets.• Earnhardt's death seems to have spawned a touch of indifference among the legions of loyal stock car racing fans.• I couldnt tell if it was Soton fans joining in the appreciation, or just Leeds fans everywhere.• This doubles the time the fans show little consideration.fan mail/letters• He received 2,000 fan letters a week and, when filming, had no less than 18 stand-ins lined up.• Mlle Bernardi wasn't forgotten in the excitement; she received a reported 50,000 fan letters.• Next up could be photos in teen magazines and fan letters.• When I began writing a column for the Oakland Tribune in 1963, one of my first fan letters was from Caen.• Q: Do you get fan mail, and do you answer it?• At any rate, the programme drew a large and regular fan mail.• She tells him For Women have been swamped with fan mail and want to do a contemporary shoot.• Q: Do you read all your fan mail?fanfan2 ●○○ verb [transitive] (fanned, fanning) 1 COLDto make air move around by waving a fan, piece of paper etc so that you feel coolerfan yourself People in the audience were fanning themselves with their programmes.2 INCREASE IN ACTIVITY, FEELINGS ETC literary to make someone feel an emotion more strongly SYN fuel Her resistance only fanned his desire.fan the flames (of something) The book will serve to fan the flames of debate.3 → fan a fire/flame etc → fan out→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
fan• Gina fanned herself with a newspaper.• Haverford fanned himself with his panama hat and wheezed like a rusty concertina.• If the bird fans its tail and has a shiny black breast color, it's a male.• Some politicians are deliberately fanning nationalist emotions.• So they fan off the loose and close down the spaces for the fly-half or blind-side winger.• I slid down in my bed, my hair fanning out over the headboard like a thick black fringe.• Having skirted the mire itself without success, the search-party fanned out to cover a wider area, calling Horatia's name.• As they toured the country showing the fruits of seismic tomography, they fanned the flames of interest in this new technique.fan yourself• She blew out through her lips and pretended to fan herself.• We stood on the side of the road and fanned ourselves.• Old folk ambled, fanning themselves with hats or newspapers, slowing down their progress.• The elder female sank down on a tree stump to rest, fanning herself with her hand.• Haverford fanned himself with his panama hat and wheezed like a rusty concertina.• It created an odd effect, because, as he shook his head, he still fanned himself with his straw hat.• She picked up a brochure from the counter and fanned herself with it.• Women sat on fire escapes, drinking beer and fanning themselves with newspapers against the exhaust of Ninth Avenue.fan the flames (of something)• In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, enlightened despotism, secularism, nationalism and liberalism had all fanned the flames.• Their efforts were hampered by recent dry weather and moderate winds fanning the flames.• Widespread fires generate their own wind, which fan the flames into devastating firestorms.• That should be enough time to fan the flames of an all-out, old-fashioned quarterback squabble.• As they toured the country showing the fruits of seismic tomography, they fanned the flames of interest in this new technique.• But the fact is that the very lack of evidence seems to fan the flames of suspicion.• Meanwhile, Spong, who fanned the flames of the debate in 1988 when he ordained the Rev.• The work of the modern quantum chemist has helped to fan the flames of this debate.Origin fan1 1. (1800-1900) fanatic2. (700-800) Latin vannus 