Definitions for follow
ˈfɒl oʊfol·low

Princeton's WordNet(3.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. follow(verb)

   to travel behind, go after, come after

   "The ducklings followed their mother around the pond"; "Please follow the guide through the museum"

2. postdate, follow(verb)

   be later in time

   "Tuesday always follows Monday"

3. follow, fall out(verb)

   come as a logical consequence; follow logically

   "It follows that your assertion is false"; "the theorem falls out nicely"

4. follow, travel along(verb)

   travel along a certain course

   "follow the road"; "follow the trail"

5. comply, follow, abide by(verb)

   act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes

   "He complied with my instructions"; "You must comply or else!"; "Follow these simple rules"; "abide by the rules"

6. follow, come after(verb)

   come after in time, as a result

   "A terrible tsunami followed the earthquake"

7. follow, conform to(verb)

   behave in accordance or in agreement with

   "Follow a pattern"; "Follow my example"

8. follow(verb)

   be next

   "Mary plays best, with John and Sue following"

9. adopt, follow, espouse(verb)

   choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans

   "She followed the feminist movement"; "The candidate espouses Republican ideals"

10. follow(verb)

    to bring something about at a later time than

    "She followed dinner with a brandy"; "He followed his lecture with a question and answer period"

11. take after, follow(verb)

    imitate in behavior; take as a model

    "Teenagers follow their friends in everything"

12. trace, follow(verb)

    follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something

    "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress"

13. watch, observe, follow, watch over, keep an eye on(verb)

    follow with the eyes or the mind

    "Keep an eye on the baby, please!"; "The world is watching Sarajevo"; "She followed the men with the binoculars"

14. succeed, come after, follow(verb)

    be the successor (of)

    "Carter followed Ford"; "Will Charles succeed to the throne?"

15. play along, accompany, follow(verb)

    perform an accompaniment to

    "The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano"

16. keep up, keep abreast, follow(verb)

    keep informed

    "He kept up on his country's foreign policies"

17. come, follow(verb)

    to be the product or result

    "Melons come from a vine"; "Understanding comes from experience"

18. follow(verb)

    accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of

    "Let's follow our great helmsman!"; "She followed a guru for years"

19. follow(verb)

    adhere to or practice

    "These people still follow the laws of their ancient religion"

20. be, follow(verb)

    work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function

    "He is a herpetologist"; "She is our resident philosopher"

21. surveil, follow, survey(verb)

    keep under surveillance

    "The police had been following him for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in the bombing"

22. pursue, follow(verb)

    follow in or as if in pursuit

    "The police car pursued the suspected attacker"; "Her bad deed followed her and haunted her dreams all her life"

23. follow(verb)

    grasp the meaning

    "Can you follow her argument?"; "When he lectures, I cannot follow"

24. stick to, stick with, follow(verb)

    keep to

    "Stick to your principles"; "stick to the diet"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. follow(Verb)

   To go or come after in physical space.

   Follow that car!

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

2. follow(Verb)

   To go or come after in a sequence.

   B follows A in the alphabet.

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

3. follow(Verb)

   To carry out in accordance to (orders, instructions, etc).

   Follow these instructions to the letter.

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

4. follow(Verb)

   To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

5. follow(Verb)

   To understand, to pay attention to.

   Do you follow me?

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

6. follow(Verb)

   To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.

   I followed the incumbent throughout the election.

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

7. follow(Verb)

   To be a logical consequence of.

   It follows that if two numbers are not equal then one is larger than the other.

   Etymology: folwen, folgen from folgian, fylgan 'to follow, pursue', from fulʒēnan (compare West Frisian folgje, volgen, folgen), from *fulkan 'folk'. More at folk.

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Follow(verb)

   to go or come after; to move behind in the same path or direction; hence, to go with (a leader, guide, etc.); to accompany; to attend

2. Follow(verb)

   to endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute

3. Follow(verb)

   to accept as authority; to adopt the opinions of; to obey; to yield to; to take as a rule of action; as, to follow good advice

4. Follow(verb)

   to copy after; to take as an example

5. Follow(verb)

   to succeed in order of time, rank, or office

6. Follow(verb)

   to result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise

7. Follow(verb)

   to watch, as a receding object; to keep the eyes fixed upon while in motion; to keep the mind upon while in progress, as a speech, musical performance, etc.; also, to keep up with; to understand the meaning, connection, or force of, as of a course of thought or argument

8. Follow(verb)

   to walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling

9. Follow(verb)

   to go or come after; -- used in the various senses of the transitive verb: To pursue; to attend; to accompany; to be a result; to imitate

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Follow

   fol′ō, v.t. to go after or behind: to come after, succeed: to pursue: to attend: to imitate: to obey: to adopt, as an opinion: to keep the eye or mind fixed on: to pursue, as an object of desire: to result from, as an effect from a cause: (B.) to strive to obtain.—v.i. to come after another: to result.—n. (billiards) a stroke which causes the ball to follow the one which it has struck.—ns. Foll′ow-board, in moulding, the board on which the pattern is laid; Foll′ower, one who comes after: a copier: a disciple: a servant-girl's sweetheart; Foll′owing, the whole body of supporters.—adj. coming next after.—Follow home, to follow closely: to follow to the end; Follow on (B.), to continue endeavours; Follow suit, in card-playing, to play a card of the same suit as the one which was led: to do anything on the same lines as another; Follow up, to pursue an advantage closely. [A.S. folgian, fylgian, app. a compound, but obscure; Ger. folgen.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. follow

   To act or behave according to a specific code or rule.

   We have to follow the governmental guidelines to ensure we comply.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 14, 2020  

2. follow

   To read, be aware and understand a code, guideline, process, procedure, standard or document.

   WE had to follow the standard to ensure we were compliant.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 14, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1092

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1243

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Verbs Frequency: #43

How to pronounce follow?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say follow in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of follow in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of follow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of follow in a Sentence

1. Niccolo Machiavelli:

   A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savor of it. Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.

2. Charles Comiskey:

   This is a little bit of a follow-through from late on Friday, when the prices got kind of silly because of month-end.

3. Akeel Asady:

   We follow the political situation day to day, we live with the politics. The rest of the world woke up when that 3-year-old boy drowned.

4. The Dhammapada:

   All that we are is made up of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with a pure thought, happiness will follow him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

5. Steven Keating:

   The patient has the least access to the data, but has to make the most medical decisions. It was my decision to do surgery or radiation or chemo, what type of chemo, it’s all in the patient’s hands. Usually they just follow what the doctor says, but they don’t have that same access to the data that the doctors do, patients don’t have access to their data legally, they only have access to their designated record, and if it’s not included in there they don’t see it.

Images & Illustrations of follow

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