follow

Plural: follows

Verb

Verb Forms: followed, following, follows

• To move or come after someone or something.
• to travel behind, go after, come after
  • "The ducklings followed their mother around the pond"
  • "Please follow the guide through the museum"
• be later in time
  • "Tuesday always follows Monday"
• come as a logical consequence; follow logically
  • "It follows that your assertion is false"
• travel along a certain course
  • "follow the road"
  • "follow the trail"
• act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes
  • "Follow these simple rules"
• come after in time, as a result
  • "A terrible tsunami followed the earthquake"
• behave in accordance or in agreement with
  • "Follow a pattern"
  • "Follow my example"
• be next
  • "Mary plays best, with John and Sue following"
• choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
  • "She followed the feminist movement"
• 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"
• imitate in behavior; take as a model
  • "Teenagers follow their friends in everything"
• follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something
  • "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba"
• follow with the eyes or the mind
  • "She followed the men with the binoculars"
• be the successor (of)
  • "Carter followed Ford"
• perform an accompaniment to
  • "The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano"
• keep informed
• to be the product or result
• accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of
  • "Let's follow our great helmsman!"
  • "She followed a guru for years"
• adhere to or practice
  • "These people still follow the laws of their ancient religion"
• work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
• keep under surveillance
  • "The police had been following him for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in the bombing"
• follow in or as if in pursuit
  • "Her bad deed followed her and haunted her dreams all her life"
• grasp the meaning
  • "Can you follow her argument?"
  • "When he lectures, I cannot follow"
• keep to
• To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching.
• To go or come after in a sequence.
• To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).
• To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).
• To understand, to pay attention to.
• To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.
• To subscribe to see content from an account on a social media platform.
• To be a logical consequence of something.
• To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.

Noun

• In billiards and similar games, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it.
• The act of following another user's online activity.

Examples

• a follow shot
• B follows A in the alphabet.
• Do you follow me?
• Follow that car!
• Follow these instructions to the letter.
• I followed the incumbent throughout the election.
• If you don't practise proper hygiene, illness is sure to follow.
• If you want to see more of our articles, follow us on Twitter.
• It follows that if two numbers are not equal then one is larger than the other.
• My friends don't regularly follow the news.
• She left the room and I followed.
• Smart Scrabble players FOLLOW their opponent’s moves, anticipating future plays.
• We both ordered the soup, with roast beef to follow.

Synonyms

abide by, accompany, adopt, be, come, come after, comply, conform to, espouse, fall out, keep abreast, keep an eye on, keep up, observe, play along, postdate, pursue, stick to, stick with, succeed, surveil, survey, take after, trace, travel along, watch, watch over, ensue, follow, follow on, tail, trail

Antonyms

precede, predate, guide, lead, succeed, unfollow

Related Words

chase, follow along, follow in someone's footsteps, follow on, follow out, follow shot, follow someone off a cliff, follow suit, follow the leader, follow the queen, follow through, follow up, follow-the-leader, followed by, hard act to follow, soon to follow, tough act to follow