[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That fans, in senses of the verb. lit. and fig.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 181. Fayre fannand fax vmbefoldes his schulderes.
1555. Latimer, Serm. & Rem. (1845), 442. Ye, dearly beloved, are God’s wheat: fear not the fanning wind, fear not the millstone; for all these things make you the meeter for God’s tooth.
a. 1700. Dryden, Cymon & Iphigenia, 104.
| The fanning wind upon her bosom blows, | |
| To meet the fanning wind the bosom rose; | |
| The fanning wind, and purling streams, continue her repose. |
1725. Pope, The Odyssey, VI. 284.
| Soft he reclines along the murmuring seas, | |
| Inhaling freshness from the fanning breeze. |
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. xliv.
| My bark did skim | |
| The bright blue waters with a fanning wind. |
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk. Fanning-breeze, one so gentle that the sail alternately swells and collapses.
