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Phrase(s): fan out
Fig. to spread out over a wide area. • The searchers fanned out, looking for the child lost in the woods. • Let’s fan out and search a wider area., Phrase(s): fan out (from some place)
to spread outward from a particular area. • The paths seem to fan out from the wide trail that starts at the house. • The trails fanned out and soon we were all separated., Phrase(s): fan something out
to spread something out so that all parts can be seen better. (As one opens a wood and paper fan.) • Todd fanned the cards out so we could see which ones he held. • He fanned out the cards.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs