FOLLOW

follow, conform to

(verb) behave in accordance or in agreement with; “Follow a pattern”; “Follow my example”

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”; “trace one’s ancestry”

follow, travel along

(verb) travel along a certain course; “follow the road”; “follow the trail”

follow

(verb) to travel behind, go after, come after; “The ducklings followed their mother around the pond”; “Please follow the guide through the museum”

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”

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”

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”

succeed, come after, follow

(verb) be the successor (of); “Carter followed Ford”; “Will Charles succeed to the throne?”

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”

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”

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”

come, follow

(verb) to be the product or result; “Melons come from a vine”; “Understanding comes from experience”

postdate, follow

(verb) be later in time; “Tuesday always follows Monday”

follow, fall out

(verb) come as a logical consequence; follow logically; “It follows that your assertion is false”; “the theorem falls out nicely”

follow, come after

(verb) come after in time, as a result; “A terrible tsunami followed the earthquake”

follow

(verb) be next; “Mary plays best, with John and Sue following”

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”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

follow (third-person singular simple present follows, present participle following, simple past and past participle followed)

(ambitransitive) To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction.

(ambitransitive) To go or come after in a sequence.

(transitive) To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).

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

(transitive) To understand, to pay attention to.

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

(internet, transitive) To subscribe to see content from an account on a social media platform.

(ambitransitive) To be a logical consequence of something.

(transitive) To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.

Synonyms

• (go after in a physical space): trail, tail

• (in a sequence): succeed; see also succeed

• (carry out): pursue

• (be a consequence): ensue

Antonyms

• (go after in a physical space): guide, lead

• (go after in a sequence): precede; see also precede

• unfollow

Noun

follow (plural follows)

(sometimes, attributive) In billiards and similar games, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it.

(internet) The act of following another user's online activity.

Anagrams

• Wollof

Source: Wiktionary


Fol"low, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Followed; p. pr. & vb. n. Following.]Etym: [OE. foluwen, folwen, folgen, AS. folgian, fylgean, fylgan; akin to D. volgen, OHG. folg, G. folgen, Icel. fylgja, Sw. följa, Dan. fölge, and perh. to E. folk.]

1. 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. It waves me forth again; I'll follow it. Shak.

2. To endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. Ex. xiv. 17.

3. 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. Approve the best, and follow what I approve. Milton. Follow peace with all men. Heb. xii. 14. It is most agreeable to some men to follow their reason; and to others to follow their appetites. J. Edwards.

4. To copy after; to take as an example. We had rather follow the perfections of them whom we like not, than in defects resemble them whom we love. Hooker.

5. To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.

6. To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise.

7. 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. He followed with his eyes the flitting shade. Dryden.

8. To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling. O, had I but followed the arts! Shak. O Antony! I have followed thee to this. Shak. Follow board (Founding), a board on which the pattern and the flask lie while the sand is rammed into the flask. Knight.

– To follow the hounds, to hunt with dogs.

– To follow suit (Card Playing), to play a card of the same suit as the leading card; hence, colloquially, to follow an example set.

– To follow up, to pursue indefatigably.

Syn.- To pursue; chase; go after; attend; accompany; succeed; imitate; copy; embrace; maintain. - To Follow, Pursue. To follow (v.t.) denotes simply to go after; to pursue denotes to follow with earnestness, and with a view to attain some definite object; as, a hound pursues the deer. So a person follows a companion whom he wishes to overtake on a journey; the officers of justice pursue a felon who has escaped from prison.

Fol"low, v. i.

Definition: 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.

Syn.- To Follow, Succeed, Ensue. To follow (v.i.) means simply to come after; as, a crowd followed. To succeed means to come after in some regular series or succession; as, day succeeds to day, and night to night. To ensue means to follow by some established connection or principle of sequence. As wave follows wave, revolution succeeds to revolution; and nothing ensues but accumulated wretchedness.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 June 2024

PARADE

(noun) an extended (often showy) succession of persons or things; “a parade of strollers on the mall”; “a parade of witnesses”


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Coffee Trivia

According to WorldAtlas, Finland is the biggest coffee consumer in the entire world. The average Finn will consume 12 kg of coffee each year.

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