fan out
phrasal verb
fanned out; fanning out; fans out
: to spread apart or to cause (something) to spread apart
The police fanned out across the park in search of the suspect.
He fanned out his fingers.
Examples of fan out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The aim is to make new fans out of people like Mr. Norton or, ideally, his grandson.
—
David Waldstein, New York Times, 31 May 2024
More than 800 researchers fanned out across 1,500 townships in Minnesota and listened and watched for birds.
—John Myers, Twin Cities, 26 May 2024
As Taveras got to the stop and tried to fan out the train of her dress, she could be seen pushing the security guard’s arm away.
—Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 25 May 2024
Almost a year and a half later, in November 2021, Herder ascended the mountain with a crew of Sky Island Alliance volunteers who fanned out to find and assess the ecological health of springs that sustain plant and animal life and contribute to Tucson’s streams and groundwater recharge.
—Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 20 May 2024
Exactly one week later, on a cool, cloudy Wednesday morning, the police fanned out across the Jungle.
—Photographs Todd Heisler, New York Times, 19 May 2024
One photo showed all three of Garcia’s daughters posing while fanning out their dresses.
—Emma Kershaw, Peoplemag, 18 May 2024
Poder Latinx's canvassers were fanning out to help eligible voters in Latino neighborhoods join the rolls or update their registrations.
—Ashley Lopez, NPR, 16 May 2024
Panfish will school up and use their tails to fan out individual beds that are linked together in a honeycomb formation.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 9 May 2024
David Waldstein, New York Times, 31 May 2024
More than 800 researchers fanned out across 1,500 townships in Minnesota and listened and watched for birds.
—John Myers, Twin Cities, 26 May 2024
As Taveras got to the stop and tried to fan out the train of her dress, she could be seen pushing the security guard’s arm away.
—Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 25 May 2024
Almost a year and a half later, in November 2021, Herder ascended the mountain with a crew of Sky Island Alliance volunteers who fanned out to find and assess the ecological health of springs that sustain plant and animal life and contribute to Tucson’s streams and groundwater recharge.
—Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 20 May 2024
Exactly one week later, on a cool, cloudy Wednesday morning, the police fanned out across the Jungle.
—Photographs Todd Heisler, New York Times, 19 May 2024
One photo showed all three of Garcia’s daughters posing while fanning out their dresses.
—Emma Kershaw, Peoplemag, 18 May 2024
Poder Latinx's canvassers were fanning out to help eligible voters in Latino neighborhoods join the rolls or update their registrations.
—Ashley Lopez, NPR, 16 May 2024
Panfish will school up and use their tails to fan out individual beds that are linked together in a honeycomb formation.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 9 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fan out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fan out
Cite this Entry
“Fan out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%20out. Accessed 5 Jun. 2024.
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