verb (used with object)
- to come after in sequence, order of time, etc.: The speech follows the dinner.
- to go or come after; move behind in the same direction: Drive ahead, and I’ll follow you.
- to accept as a guide or leader; accept the authority of or give allegiance to: Many Germans followed Hitler.
- to conform to, comply with, or act in accordance with; obey: to follow orders; to follow advice.
- to imitate or copy; use as an exemplar: They follow the latest fads.
- to move forward along (a road, path, etc.): Follow this road for a mile.
- to come after as a result or consequence; result from: Reprisals often follow victory.
- to go after or along with (a person) as companion.
- to go in pursuit of: to follow an enemy.
- to try for or attain to: to follow an ideal.
- to engage in or be concerned with as a pursuit: He followed the sea as his true calling.
- to watch the movements, progress, or course of: to follow a bird in flight.
- to watch the development of or keep up with: to follow the news.
- to keep up with and understand (an argument, story, etc.): Do you follow me?
verb (used without object)
- to come next after something else in sequence, order of time, etc.
- to happen or occur after something else; come next as an event: After the defeat great disorder followed.
- to attend or serve.
- to go or come after a person or thing in motion.
- to result as an effect; occur as a consequence: It follows then that he must be innocent.
noun
- the act of following.
- Billiards, Pool. follow shot(def 2).
- follow-up(def 3).
Verb Phrases
- follow out, to carry to a conclusion; execute: They followed out their orders to the letter.
- follow through,
- to carry out fully, as a stroke of a club in golf, a racket in tennis, etc.
- to continue an effort, plan, proposal, policy, etc., to its completion.
- follow up,
- to pursue closely and tenaciously.
- to increase the effectiveness of by further action or repetition.
- to pursue to a solution or conclusion.
Idioms
- follow suit. suit(def 21).
verb
- to go or come after in the same directionhe followed his friend home
- (tr) to accompany; attendshe followed her sister everywhere
- to come after as a logical or natural consequence
- (tr) to keep to the course or track ofshe followed the towpath
- (tr) to act in accordance with; obeyto follow instructions
- (tr) to accept the ideas or beliefs of (a previous authority, etc)he followed Donne in most of his teachings
- to understand (an explanation, argument, etc)the lesson was difficult to follow
- to watch closely or continuouslyshe followed his progress carefully
- (tr) to have a keen interest into follow athletics
- (tr) to help in the cause of or accept the leadership ofthe men who followed Napoleon
- (tr) to choose to receive messages posted by (a blogger or microblogger)I’ve been following her online
- (tr) rare to earn a living at or into follow the Navy
- follow suit cards
- to play a card of the same suit as the card played immediately before it
- to do the same as someone else
noun
- billiards snooker
- a forward spin imparted to a cue ball causing it to roll after the object ball
- a shot made in this way
v.Old English folgian, fylgan “follow, accompany; follow after, pursue,” also “obey, apply oneself to a practice or calling,” from West Germanic *fulg- (cf. Old Saxon folgon, Old Frisian folgia, Middle Dutch volghen, Dutch volgen, Old High German folgen, German folgen, Old Norse fylgja “to follow”). Probably originally a compound, *full-gan with a sense of “full-going;” the sense then shifting to “serve, go with as an attendant” (cf. fulfill). Related: Followed; following. To follow one’s nose “go straight on” first attested 1590s. “The full phrase is, ‘Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.’ ” [Farmer]. In addition to the idioms beginning with follow
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