Fan the Flames

Used metaphorically since the 1700’s, in phrases such as “fan the flames of discontent,” “fan the flames of insurrection,” or “fan the flames of love.”

Meaning

To fan the flames is to cause an emotion, especially a negative one, to become stronger or to incite someone to increase negative activities by causing them to become more aggravated. To aggravate the tension in a situation or to make a situation more extreme.

Examples Of Use

“Racists organizations often fan the flame of hatred through propaganda.”

“The organization fanned the flames of revolution, inciting followers to war.”

“He was a provocative speaker who fanned the fans of the crowd’s anger.”

Fan the flames idiom meaning

Origin

The literal meaning of fanning flames is to blow air onto a fire so as to increase the available oxygen to the fire, thus causing the flames to become higher and the fire more intense. The meaning of this idiom can be seen in the literal meaning. Thus, fire can be seen as the negative emotion such as hatred or anger, and fanning can be seen as causing these emotions to increase in intensity.