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

Thick, undulating braids waving across the crown of her head and a swirled, slicked down baby curl, with finer braids fanning out like interconnecting halos. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 Dec. 2025

To find the very best, USA TODAY Network food writers fanned out across the map to find historic institutions that have fed generations to modern temples of beef redefining what a steakhouse can be. —Usa Today Network, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025

Federal agents fanned out across four New England states and posted up at airports in Boston and Hartford. —Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2025

So Sunday’s game was the NFL equivalent of playing Middle Tennessee State (no offense intended to all the Blue Raiders fans out there). —Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for fan out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout