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
In the aftermath of the attacks, Israeli aid groups fanned out across the country trying to support the victims of the Hamas rampage.
—
Majd Al-Waheidi, NPR, 5 May 2024
A bit of context: Just before dawn on the seventeenth, dozens of students had fanned out across the east lawn to demand that the university curtail investments in companies with ties to Israel.
—Nina Berman, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
In those days, even winning wasn’t enough to bring the fans out.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024
On Monday afternoon, a helicopter for local Los Angeles news station Fox 11 captured footage overhead as dozens of law enforcement personnel fanned out on the grounds of what was purportedly Combs' Holmby Hills mansion in West LA.
—Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024
The good professor has drafted scores of observers who will fan out across pens and aviaries to confirm what his 2017 team had found seven years earlier.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Mar. 2024
The clump-free formula gets a boost from the innovative brush, which has short bristles at the tip to coat every last lash and longer bristles at the base to fan out your fringe.
—Jackie Fields, Peoplemag, 2 Mar. 2024
For 2 minutes and 33 seconds, the sky darkened to the pall of twilight at 1:41 p.m.
Dozens of volunteers — from high school students to doctoral candidates — fanned out across the pens and enclosures of the zoo to record how the animals react to a total solar eclipse.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2024
Biden and his surrogates – including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff – will fan out across the U.S. on Monday to tout the proposal.
—Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
Majd Al-Waheidi, NPR, 5 May 2024
A bit of context: Just before dawn on the seventeenth, dozens of students had fanned out across the east lawn to demand that the university curtail investments in companies with ties to Israel.
—Nina Berman, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
In those days, even winning wasn’t enough to bring the fans out.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024
On Monday afternoon, a helicopter for local Los Angeles news station Fox 11 captured footage overhead as dozens of law enforcement personnel fanned out on the grounds of what was purportedly Combs' Holmby Hills mansion in West LA.
—Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024
The good professor has drafted scores of observers who will fan out across pens and aviaries to confirm what his 2017 team had found seven years earlier.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Mar. 2024
The clump-free formula gets a boost from the innovative brush, which has short bristles at the tip to coat every last lash and longer bristles at the base to fan out your fringe.
—Jackie Fields, Peoplemag, 2 Mar. 2024
For 2 minutes and 33 seconds, the sky darkened to the pall of twilight at 1:41 p.m.
Dozens of volunteers — from high school students to doctoral candidates — fanned out across the pens and enclosures of the zoo to record how the animals react to a total solar eclipse.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2024
Biden and his surrogates – including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff – will fan out across the U.S. on Monday to tout the proposal.
—Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 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 10 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share