Fan vs Foe - What's the difference?
fan | foe |
A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
An electrical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
* :
* :
A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind.
To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.
* 1865 , (Lewis Carroll), (w, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
To slap (a behind, especially).
* 1934 , edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 148:
*
To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
An admirer or aficionado, especially of a sport or performer; someone who is fond of something or someone; an admirer.
(obsolete) Hostile.
*, vol.1, ch.23:
An enemy.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
, title=
As nouns the difference between fan and foe
is that fan is a hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself while foe is an enemy.As a verb fan
is to blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.As a proper noun Fan
is a diminutive of Frances.As an abbreviation FAN
is file area network.As an adjective foe is
hostile.As an initialism FoE is
friends of the Earth.fan
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at (l).Noun
(en noun)- The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan .
- Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Derived terms
* ceiling fan * cooling fan * desk fan * exhaust fan * extractor fan * fan belt * fan dance * fan death * hit the fan * pedestal fan * wall fanVerb
(fann)- We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind. .
- Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking.
Derived terms
* fannerEtymology 2
Shortened from (fanatic).Noun
(en-noun)- I am a big fan of libraries.
See also
* fanneAnagrams
* * ----foe
English
Etymology 1
(etyl) fo 'foe; hostile', from earlier ifo 'foe', from (etyl) 'to hate, be hostile' (compare Middle Irish oech 'enemy, fiend', Latin piget 'he is annoying', Lithuanian piktas ‘evil’, Albanian pis ‘dirty, scoundrel’).Adjective
(en adjective)- he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King.
Noun
(en noun)Travels and travails, passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foe s’ glee.}}
