"hit the fan" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hits the fan",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hitting the fan",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the fan",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the fan",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hit<,,hit> the fan"
      },
      "expansion": "hit the fan (third-person singular simple present hits the fan, present participle hitting the fan, simple past and past participle hit the fan)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan."
        },
        {
          "text": "Then the shit really hit the fan."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 December 2, Neil Cavuto, “Interview With Jeff Flake”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)",
          "text": "Let me ask you, Congressman, the case of a lot of these corporate scandals, I followed enough of them to know how -- how it works out. Once everything starts hitting the fan, the CEO, the chairman or maybe a large share of the board of directors simply leaves, resigns",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect."
      ],
      "id": "en-hit_the_fan-en-verb-7v5kafA-",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive) To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "shit show"
        },
        {
          "word": "shitstorm"
        },
        {
          "word": "shower of shit"
        },
        {
          "word": "shit happens"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hit the fan.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a8/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hit the fan"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hits the fan",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hitting the fan",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the fan",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the fan",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hit<,,hit> the fan"
      },
      "expansion": "hit the fan (third-person singular simple present hits the fan, present participle hitting the fan, simple past and past participle hit the fan)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "shit show"
    },
    {
      "word": "shitstorm"
    },
    {
      "word": "shower of shit"
    },
    {
      "word": "shit happens"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan."
        },
        {
          "text": "Then the shit really hit the fan."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 December 2, Neil Cavuto, “Interview With Jeff Flake”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)",
          "text": "Let me ask you, Congressman, the case of a lot of these corporate scandals, I followed enough of them to know how -- how it works out. Once everything starts hitting the fan, the CEO, the chairman or maybe a large share of the board of directors simply leaves, resigns",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive) To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hit the fan.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a8/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/En-au-hit_the_fan.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hit the fan"
}