See Also: follow(dictionary)
follow-through(dictionary)
follow-on(dictionary)
follow-up(dictionary)
follow-through(dictionary)
follow-on(dictionary)
follow(2)(dictionary)
follow(1)(dictionary)
Follow Up On(money)
Follow(medicine)

follow(2) (iou)



follow verb.

I. Go or come after; accompany; succeed.
verb trans. & intrans. (foll. by after). Go or come after (a person or object in motion). OE.
J. R. Green One of the Norman strangers who followed in the wake of the Conqueror. E. Bowen One by one they had followed each other out. J. Cheever The smell of fresh earth that follows a plow.
a. verb trans. & (now rare) intrans. with after, on, upon. Go after with intent to keep up, overtake, or catch; go in pursuit, chase, (a person or object in motion). OE.
G. Greene The chap who was following him had to queue up at the ordinary entrance and lost him.
b. verb trans. & (now rare) intrans. with after. Pursue (an object of desire); strive after, aim at. ME.
T. Gunn The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows some hidden purpose.
c. verb trans. Pursue (an affair) to its conclusion or accomplishment; prosecute; enforce (a law). Also foll. by on, upon, against. M16-L17.
Shakespeare 2 Henry IV O, such a day, so fought, so followed, and so fairly won.
verb trans. Go after or along with (a person) as an attendant or companion; accompany; fig. be a (necessary) accompaniment to, be consequent upon. OE.
S. C. Hall The rheumatic..creature who had 'followed' the family for more than forty years.
b. verb trans. Go after as an admirer, suitor, etc. E17.
Shakespeare Hamlet Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? Are they so followed?
c. verb trans. & intrans. Attend (the body of a deceased person) to the grave; colloq. attend (a person's funeral). E19.
a. verb trans. & intrans. Come after (something else) in sequence, order of time, etc. ME.
E. Bowen He went off to order the supperjust supper, they said, fish or something, with coffee to follow. W. Trevor The Whitsun visitors would follow the Easter ones.
b. verb intrans. Happen or occur after something else; ensue. Formerly also, proceed, continue. (Foll. by on.) LME.
I. Murdoch He had, since his retirement..had no opportunities for self-indulgence, since Fanny's death had followed so soon after.
c. verb trans. Provide (a thing) with a sequel or a successor. L17.
a. verb intrans. Result, be deducible, occur as a consequence. (Foll. by from, of.) ME.
M. Holroyd If friends were God's apology for families, it followed they should be as unlike one's own family as possible.
b. verb trans. Come after or succeed (something) as a consequence. L16.
Anthony Smith Fits can follow many of the ordinary vicissitudes of life, such as fright.
II. Keep to or trace the course of.
verb trans. Treat or take (a person) as a guide, leader, etc.; accept the authority or example of; espouse the opinions or cause of. OE.
Isaiah Berlin Kant insisted, following Rousseau, that a capacity for rational self-direction belonged to all men.
verb trans. Conform to, comply with, obey, or act upon or in accordance with, (advice, command, fashion, etc.). OE.
I. Murdoch I..followed my rule of never speaking frankly to women in moments of emotion. R. S. Thomas And he writes there/in invisible handwriting the instructions/the genes follow.
b. Conform to in likeness, resemble, take after; imitate. OE-L17.
verb trans. Pursue or practise (a way of life, a hobby, etc.); engage in or apply oneself to (work etc.); esp. earn a living at (a profession). OE.
G. Greene The career of an h?telier was not..the one which the Jesuits had expected me to follow.
verb trans. Go forward along, keep to the track or course of, (a path etc.). ME.
E. M. Forster Her track through the dew followed the path that he had turfed over. R. Brautigan I walked down..from Steelhead, following the Klamath River.
verb trans. & intrans. Keep track of mentally, understand, grasp the meaning of, (an argument, a speaker, etc.). L17.
J. Gaskell It is a bit difficult..to follow technicalities in a foreign tongue. R. Macdonald I don't quite follow I'm very stupid today.
b. verb trans. Watch the progress or course of (a person or object in motion); take a close interest in the present state or progress of (events, a football team, etc.). L17.
R. Davies I don't suppose he made a move without you following him with your eyes. F. Johnson We are following with concern events in Germany.
Phrases: follow in a person's footsteps: see FOOTSTEP noun 1. follow one's nose: see NOSE noun. follow suit: see SUIT noun. follow the crowd: see CROWD noun2. follow the drum arch. be a soldier. follow the hounds go hunting. follow the plough: see PLOUGH noun 3. follow the sea be a sailor. follow the string Archery (of a bow) take on a permanent curve from use.
With adverbs in specialized senses: follow on (a) continue moving in the same direction as an object moving in front; provide continuation; (b) Cricket (of a team) go in to bat for a second innings immediately after failing in their first innings to reach a score a prescribed number of runs fewer than that of their opponent's first innings. follow out pursue to a conclusion; carry out (instructions) precisely. follow through continue to completion; spec. (Golf, Cricket, etc.) continue a stroke or action (esp. to the full extent of the swing), after the ball has been struck or (in bowling) released. follow up pursue steadily or closely; make further investigation of; reinforce by further action or support.
Comb.: follow-me-lads arch. [cf. French suivez-moi-jeune-homme] curls or ribbons hanging loosely over the shoulder; follow-my-leader, (N. Amer.) follow-the-leader a game in which each player must do as the leader does, or pay a forfeit; follow-spot a spotlight that follows a performer on the stage.
followable adjective LME.