Follow
['fɒləʊ] or ['fɑlo]
Definition
(verb.) behave in accordance or in agreement with; 'Follow a pattern'; 'Follow my example'.
(verb.) travel along a certain course; 'follow the road'; 'follow the trail'.
(verb.) to travel behind, go after, come after; 'The ducklings followed their mother around the pond'; 'Please follow the guide through the museum'.
(verb.) come as a logical consequence; follow logically; 'It follows that your assertion is false'; 'the theorem falls out nicely'.
(verb.) come after in time, as a result; 'A terrible tsunami followed the earthquake'.
(verb.) be next; 'Mary plays best, with John and Sue following'.
(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'.
(verb.) accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of; 'Let's follow our great helmsman!'; 'She followed a guru for years'.
(verb.) adhere to or practice; 'These people still follow the laws of their ancient religion'.
(verb.) grasp the meaning; 'Can you follow her argument?'; 'When he lectures, I cannot follow'.
Typist: Tim--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To copy after; to take as an example.
(v. t.) To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.
(v. t.) To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.
(v. i.) 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.
Typist: Tim
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Come or go after or behind, go in the rear or in the wake of, tread in the steps of, tread on the heels of.[2]. Succeed, come next, tread close upon.[3]. Pursue, chase, run after, go after.[4]. Attend, accompany, go along with, keep company with.[5]. Obey, heed, observe, be guided by, conform to, yield to.[6]. Seek, cherish, cultivate, strive for.[7]. Practise, pursue, attend to, make the object of pursuit.[8]. Imitate, copy, pattern after, copy after, take as an example.
v. n. [1]. Come or go after.[2]. Succeed, come next.[3]. Ensue, result, arise, proceed, flow, spring, issue.
Inputed by Jackson
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Pursue, chase, accompany, obey, Imitate, succeed, result, ensue, attend,shadow, observe, copy
ANT:Avoid, elude, quit, disobey, precede, cause, produce, abandon, shun
Editor: Orville
Definition
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.
Editor: Moll
Examples
- It will by no means follow, however, that the real exchange was against it. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Justice and health of mind will be of the company, and temperance will follow after? Plato. The Republic.
- This little conundrum came by the first post, and he was to follow by the next train. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Where Judy Trenor led, all the world would follow; and Lily had the doomed sense of the castaway who has signalled in vain to fleeing sails. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- You must therefore allow me to follow the dictates of my conscience on this occasion, which leads me to perform what I look on as a point of duty. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- For these all follow the general principle, and having found that, we shall have no difficulty in discovering them. Plato. The Republic.
- The two or three lines which follow contain fragments of words only, mingled with blots and scratches of the pen. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- We retired from the debate which had followed on his nomination: we, his nominators, mortified; he dispirited to excess. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The reactions were all varied in various people, but they followed a few great laws, and intrinsically there was no difference. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It would seem to be always the same question, for, it is always followed by a press of people towards the third cart. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- She usually followed him; but he heard her passing down the passage to her bedroom. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up without a word, handed me my hat, picked his own from the table, and followed Dr. Trevelyan to the door. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- But if you have followed recent events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his wedding? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- At immense personal sacrifice I followed the dictates of my own ingenuity, my own humanity, my own caution, and took her identity instead. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Here I borrowed a horse from my uncle, and the following day we proceeded on our journey. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I cannot but in some sense admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse by the following considerations. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- So on the following day they started north along the shore. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- All the following day the same scene continued. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The following conclusions are drawn up chiefly from Gartner's admirable work on the hybridisation of plants. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- What with loss of sleep, arduous exercise, and a full belly, Tarzan of the Apes slept the sun around, awakening about noon of the following day. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- He tore off a strip of the blotting-paper and turned towards us the following hieroglyphic: GRAPHIC Cyril Overton was much excited. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- I suppose the virtue to belong to my companion, not to myself; and observe what follows from this alteration. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- That of the evolution of motion pictures follows. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The Memphis and Charleston Railroad strikes the Tennessee at Eastport, Mississippi, and follows close to the banks of the river up to the shoals. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Surely the plain inference that follows needs no pointing out? Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Some prefer a preparation in the form of a paste, as follows: =Cherry Tooth Paste. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- But now it comes out: 'My motive for cautioning you is as follows. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
Checked by Basil