What does follow mean?
Definitions for follow
ˈfɒl oʊfol·low
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word follow.
Princeton's WordNet
followverb
to travel behind, go after, come after
"The ducklings followed their mother around the pond"; "Please follow the guide through the museum"
postdate, followverb
be later in time
"Tuesday always follows Monday"
follow, fall outverb
come as a logical consequence; follow logically
"It follows that your assertion is false"; "the theorem falls out nicely"
follow, travel alongverb
travel along a certain course
"follow the road"; "follow the trail"
comply, follow, abide byverb
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"
follow, come afterverb
come after in time, as a result
"A terrible tsunami followed the earthquake"
follow, conform toverb
behave in accordance or in agreement with
"Follow a pattern"; "Follow my example"
followverb
be next
"Mary plays best, with John and Sue following"
adopt, follow, espouseverb
choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
"She followed the feminist movement"; "The candidate espouses Republican ideals"
followverb
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"
take after, followverb
imitate in behavior; take as a model
"Teenagers follow their friends in everything"
trace, followverb
follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something
"We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress"
watch, observe, follow, watch over, keep an eye onverb
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"
succeed, come after, followverb
be the successor (of)
"Carter followed Ford"; "Will Charles succeed to the throne?"
play along, accompany, followverb
perform an accompaniment to
"The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano"
keep up, keep abreast, followverb
keep informed
"He kept up on his country's foreign policies"
come, followverb
to be the product or result
"Melons come from a vine"; "Understanding comes from experience"
followverb
accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of
"Let's follow our great helmsman!"; "She followed a guru for years"
followverb
adhere to or practice
"These people still follow the laws of their ancient religion"
be, followverb
work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
"He is a herpetologist"; "She is our resident philosopher"
surveil, follow, surveyverb
keep under surveillance
"The police had been following him for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in the bombing"
pursue, followverb
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"
followverb
grasp the meaning
"Can you follow her argument?"; "When he lectures, I cannot follow"
stick to, stick with, followverb
keep to
"Stick to your principles"; "stick to the diet"
Wiktionary
followverb
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.
followverb
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.
followverb
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.
followverb
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.
followverb
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.
followverb
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.
followverb
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
Followverb
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
Followverb
to endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute
Followverb
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
Followverb
to copy after; to take as an example
Followverb
to succeed in order of time, rank, or office
Followverb
to result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise
Followverb
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
Followverb
to walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling
Followverb
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
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
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, 2020follow
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
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1092
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1243
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'follow' in Verbs Frequency: #43
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of follow in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of follow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of follow in a Sentence
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
Follow the truth and you will never get lost.”
In a state like Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, if someone orders pills online, they are doing so outside of the laws of that state, because they have prohibited telemedicine and more states are passing laws prohibiting the possession of medication abortion, there is the risk of criminalization when people do not follow the laws of their state.
What I said is there are states that didn't follow their legislatively set rules.
It is very rare for Bensouda to say a decision is imminent and then not to follow through: her statements are usually carefully measured and deliberate.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for follow
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- إتبع, تبع, خلفArabic
- следвам, съблюдавамBulgarian
- seguirCatalan, Valencian
- sledovat, plynout, dodržetCzech
- følgeDanish
- folgenGerman
- ακολουθώ, επακολουθώGreek
- sekviEsperanto
- seguirSpanish
- aru saama, jälitama, tulenema, järgnema, järgimaEstonian
- دنبال کردن, پیرویPersian
- seurata, tarkkailla, noudattaa, pysyä kärryillä, pysyä mukanaFinnish
- suivreFrench
- folgjeWestern Frisian
- leanScottish Gaelic
- seguirGalician
- עקבHebrew
- पीछा करनाHindi
- követ, következikHungarian
- հետևելArmenian
- sequarIdo
- seguireItalian
- 従う, 付いて行くJapanese
- გაყოლა, მიყოლაGeorgian
- 따르다Korean
- sequiLatin
- follegenLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- sektiLithuanian
- sekotLatvian
- дагах мѳрдѳхMongolian
- volgenDutch
- følgeNorwegian
- nadążać, wynikać, śledzić, wykonać, wyznawać, następowaćPolish
- seguirPortuguese
- qatiyQuechua
- urma, urmăriRomanian
- следить, соблюдать, следоватьRussian
- prȁtiti, slijéditiSerbo-Croatian
- sleditiSlovene
- ndjekAlbanian
- följa, hänga med, haja, förstå, fattaSwedish
- பின்தொடர்Tamil
- అనుసరించు, వెంబడించు, పాటించుTelugu
- ทยอย, ตามThai
- izlemek, takip etmekTurkish
- پیچھا کرناUrdu
- shuveWalloon
- 跟随Chinese
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"follow." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 24 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/follow>.
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