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 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

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