fan-v; 4 Senses

Sense Number 1: agitate the air to stir up activity (as if) with a fan

Commentary: Includes FAN THE FLAMES, FAN THE FIRES Syntax Is: NP1[agent] FAN NP2[patient]

Examples:
How texts fanned the flames of Ivy fraud.
We fanned the fire to help it grow.
Jean fanned the smoke away from her, choking.
The heat was immense and we fanned ourselves frantically to cool off.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: fan.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 3, 4

Sense Number 2: make an emotion or quality grow or become stronger

Commentary: Syntax Includes: NP1[stimulus] FAN NP2[patient[abstract]] NP1[agent] FAN NP2[patient[abstract]]

Examples:
This conduct fanned the excitement of the populace.
The busboy's insolence only fanned her anger.
Madonna says the news media fanned the controversy over her
attempts to adopt a boy from Malawi.
The electronic media fanned the violence.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: fan.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2

Sense Number 3: spread out like a fan

Examples:
The dealer fanned the cards.
She fanned her fingers wide and placed her hands on the table.
The peacock fanned its feathers in a glorious display.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: NM

Sense Number 4: BASEBALL: strike out a batter

Examples:
Springer, who fanned the side in the second inning, threw 82 pitches.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1