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
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
This year, scientists fanned out across North America and in the skies above it will continue the legacy of eclipse science.
—Rebecca Boyle, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
The defendants fanned out across North America to avoid detection, hitting Apple stores in 40 states and Canada.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2024
And the training has a wider impact: Many Walmart leaders eventually fan out to other companies in the retail industry.
—Jordyn Holman, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn, Issa Rae, Cynthia Erivo and Laverne Cox were all in a logjam that seemed to be caused by the train of Ashley Graham’s beaded gown needing to be fanned out around her at all times.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
This is the season where the gang had to eat road dogs and fan out across highways in order to stay alive, having previously lived a good life inside the walled prison community.
—Josh Wigler, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 2024
Those trapped inside captured the grim scene on their cell phones: assailants fanning out with weapons drawn, bursts of automatic gunfire, bodies slumped on the floor.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2024
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
This year, scientists fanned out across North America and in the skies above it will continue the legacy of eclipse science.
—Rebecca Boyle, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
The defendants fanned out across North America to avoid detection, hitting Apple stores in 40 states and Canada.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2024
And the training has a wider impact: Many Walmart leaders eventually fan out to other companies in the retail industry.
—Jordyn Holman, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn, Issa Rae, Cynthia Erivo and Laverne Cox were all in a logjam that seemed to be caused by the train of Ashley Graham’s beaded gown needing to be fanned out around her at all times.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
This is the season where the gang had to eat road dogs and fan out across highways in order to stay alive, having previously lived a good life inside the walled prison community.
—Josh Wigler, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 2024
Those trapped inside captured the grim scene on their cell phones: assailants fanning out with weapons drawn, bursts of automatic gunfire, bodies slumped on the floor.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 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 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share