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
Witnesses in Hollywood described the agents fanning out in the lot, apprehending people quickly and leaving within roughly half an hour.
—
Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
The silver lining for the future of electric vehicles is that these former Tesla staffers are fanning out to the rest of the car industry.
—Patrick George, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
As officers from multiple law enforcement agencies fanned out across the state searching for Boelter, the suspect made a key mistake by trying to go to his farm in Green Isle, Minnesota, where police were already looking for him.
—Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 17 June 2025
No Kings protests fanned out across South Florida and the country Saturday as thousands of people demonstrated against President Donald Trump’s policies on his 79th birthday and the day of a military parade in Washington.
—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fan out
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
The silver lining for the future of electric vehicles is that these former Tesla staffers are fanning out to the rest of the car industry.
—Patrick George, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
As officers from multiple law enforcement agencies fanned out across the state searching for Boelter, the suspect made a key mistake by trying to go to his farm in Green Isle, Minnesota, where police were already looking for him.
—Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 17 June 2025
No Kings protests fanned out across South Florida and the country Saturday as thousands of people demonstrated against President Donald Trump’s policies on his 79th birthday and the day of a military parade in Washington.
—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fan out
Cite this Entry
“Fan out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%20out. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share