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What is a good expression to describe putting out a candle by waving your hands in front it? When you wave your hand, it creates a draft of air, and that air puts out the candle. How do you say that? "Waving your hands" doesn't seem right.

"He put out the fire by fanning with his hands." How does that sound?

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    I've never heard of that way of doing it, so I doubt if there is a standard expression. People usually blow out a candle, use a conical extinguisher or pinch the wick with moistened fingers.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 14:45
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    Is this literally about putting out a candle or is it a metaphor or idiom for something else? If it's not literal, you'll need to provide more information on how it's used.
    – Canis Lupus
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 14:48
  • Are you talking about a Kung Fu thing? kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?52532-Candle-training/…
    – Spagirl
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 15:24
  • So when you wave your hand, it creates draft of air, and that air douses the candle.
    – Black Dagger
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 15:39
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    A candle and a fire are two different things. The expression in the title seems to indicate a desperate or futile effort to do something. Something like trying to put out a forest-fire by pissing on it.
    – Jim
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 18:34

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There isn't one

as far as the OED knows. I mean, there are scads of synonyms for "extinguish"—out, outen, dout, kill, redd, a horde of variants of slake, &c.—and you could just pick an obscure one to use with your special sense.

Really, though, the default way to coin a new expression for putting or doing out a fire is exactly that: take whatever action or device you're using and add out to it. I like the irony of using fan out for putting out a fire but that expression does already have a separate meaning.

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  • "He put out the fire by fanning with his hands." How does that sound?
    – Black Dagger
    Commented Apr 27, 2017 at 15:37
  • @BlackDagger Sounds completely off. You could have it work by using out but fanning a flame with no interrupting preposition is going to mean making the flame bigger by feeding it air.
    – lly
    Commented Apr 27, 2017 at 16:14
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I'd use the past participle of the verb “swish” which means “move with a hissing or rushing sound”:

He swished his hand to blow out the candle flame.

I suppose you could use “waved” instead of “swished” here too:

He waved his hand to blow out the candle flame.

Hope that helps.

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