Follow

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Follow \Fol"low\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Followed}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Following}.][OE. foluwen, folwen, folgen, AS. folgian,
     fylgean, fylgan; akin to D. volgen, OHG. folg[=e]n, G.
     folgen, Icel. fylgja, Sw. f["o]lja, Dan. f["o]lge, 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.
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              It waves me forth again; I'll follow it. --Shak.
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     2. To endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to
        pursue; to prosecute.
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              I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they
              shall follow them.                    --Ex. xiv. 17.
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     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.
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              Approve the best, and follow what I approve.
                                                    --Milton.
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              Follow peace with all men.            --Heb. xii.
                                                    14.
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              It is most agreeable to some men to follow their
              reason; and to others to follow their appetites.
                                                    --J. Edwards.
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     4. To copy after; to take as an example.
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              We had rather follow the perfections of them whom we
              like not, than in defects resemble them whom we
              love.                                 --Hooker.
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     5. To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.
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     6. To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference
        from a premise.
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     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.
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              He followed with his eyes the flitting shade.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     8. To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely,
        as a profession or calling.
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              O, had I but followed the arts!       --Shak.
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              O Antony! I have followed thee to this. --Shak.
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     {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: Syn.- To pursue; chase; go after; attend; accompany;
          succeed; imitate; copy; embrace; maintain.
  
     Usage: - 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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Follow \Fol"low\, 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.
  
     Syn: To {Follow}, {Succeed}, {Ensue}.
  
     Usage: 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.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Follow \Fol"low\, n.
     The art or process of following; specif., in some games, as
     billiards, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball
     after hitting it. Also used adjectively; as, follow shot.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  follow
       v 1: to travel behind, go after, come after; "The ducklings
            followed their mother around the pond"; "Please follow
            the guide through the museum" [ant: {precede}]
       2: be later in time; "Tuesday always follows Monday" [syn: {postdate}]
          [ant: {predate}]
       3: come as a logical consequence; follow logically; "It follows
          that your assertion is false"; "the theorem falls out
          nicely" [syn: {fall out}]
       4: travel along a certain course; "follow the road"; "follow
          the trail" [syn: {travel along}]
       5: 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"
          [syn: {comply}, {abide by}]
       6: come after in time, as a result; "A terrible tsunami
          followed the earthquake" [syn: {come after}]
       7: behave in accordance or in agreement with; "Follow a
          pattern"; "Follow my example" [syn: {conform to}]
       8: be next; "Mary plays best, with John and Sue following"
       9: choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies,
          strategies or plans; "She followed the feminist movement";
          "The candidate espouses Republican ideals" [syn: {adopt},
          {espouse}]
       10: 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: imitate in behavior; take as a model; "Teenagers follow
           their friends in everything" [syn: {take after}]
       12: follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of
           something; "We must follow closely the economic
           development is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress"
           [syn: {trace}]
       13: 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" [syn: {watch}, {observe}, {watch
           over}, {keep an eye on}]
       14: be the successor (of); "Carter followed Ford"; "Will Charles
           succeed to the throne?" [syn: {succeed}, {come after}]
           [ant: {precede}]
       15: perform an accompaniment to; "The orchestra could barely
           follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano" [syn: {play
           along}, {accompany}]
       16: keep informed; "He kept up on his country's foreign
           policies" [syn: {keep up}, {keep abreast}]
       17: to be the product or result; "Melons come from a vine";
           "Understanding comes from experience" [syn: {come}]
       18: accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of;
           "Let's follow our great helmsman!"; "She followed a guru
           for years"
       19: adhere to or practice; "These people still follow the laws
           of their ancient religion"
       20: work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a
           specific function; "He is a herpetologist"; "She is our
           resident philosopher" [syn: {be}]
       21: keep under surveillance; "The police had been following him
           for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in the
           bombing" [syn: {surveil}, {survey}]
       22: 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" [syn: {pursue}]
       23: grasp the meaning; "Can you follow her argument?"; "When he
           lectures, I cannot follow"
       24: keep to; "Stick to your principles"; "stick to the diet"
           [syn: {stick to}, {stick with}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  407 Moby Thesaurus words for "follow":
     abide by, absorb, accept, accept advice, accommodate,
     accommodate with, accompany, accord, act up to, adapt, adapt to,
     address, adhere to, adjust, adjust to, admire, adopt,
     afford proof of, agree with, align, angle for, ape, appear like,
     appreciate, apprehend, approach, approximate, arise, around,
     ascertain, ask for, assimilate, assimilate to, attend, attend to,
     augment, back, back up, be advised by, be consistent,
     be faithful to, be found wanting, be guided by, be inferior,
     be into, be like, be redolent of, be strong in, be vigilant,
     be watchful, be with one, bear resemblance, beat about for, beau,
     become of, bedog, believe in, bend, bolster, bring home to,
     bring to mind, buttress, c, call to mind, call up, carry on,
     carry out, catch, catch on, chase, check out, check up on,
     chime in with, chivy, cinch, cleave to, clinch, collimate,
     collineate, come about, come after, come behind, come close,
     come last, come near, come of, come on, come out, come short,
     compare with, comply, comply with, compose, comprehend, conceive,
     conclude, conduct, confine, conform, conform to, connect,
     connect with, consolidate, consummate, continue, convoy, copy,
     copy after, correct, correspond, counterfeit, court, cultivate,
     dangle, delve for, demonstrate, desire guidance, determine,
     develop, dig, dig for, digest, discharge, discipline, displace, do,
     do justice to, dog, echo, employ, emulate, end, engage in, ensue,
     ensure, equate, equidistance, escort, esquire, establish,
     eventuate, evoke, exercise, eye, eyeball, fail, fall astern,
     fall back, fall behind, fall in with, fall out, fall short, fare,
     fathom, favor, feature, fill, fish for, fit, fix, flow,
     follow a clue, follow advice, follow at heel, follow from,
     follow implicitly, follow like sheep, follow suit,
     follow the crowd, follow up, fulfill, gaze at, gear to, get,
     get hold of, get the drift, get the idea, get the picture,
     give chase, go after, go along with, go back, go backwards,
     go behind, go by, go gunning for, go in for, grasp, gun for,
     hang about, harmonize, have, have a case, have a looksee,
     have it taped, have nothing on, heed, heel, hold by, hold good,
     hold in view, hold water, hollo after, hound, hunt, hunt down,
     hunt for, hunt up, imitate, implore counsel, inherit, inquire,
     investigate, issue, join, keep, keep faith with, keep in sight,
     keep in view, keep under observation, keep up with, ken, know,
     lag behind, lay siege to, learn, limit, line up, link up,
     live up to, look, look after, look at, look for, look into,
     look like, look on, look up, look upon, major in, make after,
     make conform, make good, make out, make suit to, master, match,
     meet, mimic, mind, minor in, mirror, model after, mold,
     move behind, nail down, narrow, near, nearly reproduce, nose,
     nose out, not approach, not come near, not compare, not hack it,
     not make it, not measure up, not tell apart, obey, observe,
     pan out, parallel, parallelize, partake of, pattern after,
     pay attention to, pay court to, perform, persevere, persist,
     place parallel to, play second fiddle, postdate, practice,
     prosecute, prove, prove to be, prove true, prowl after, pursue,
     quest, quest after, raise the hunt, rank under, read, realign,
     realize, reconcile, reconnoiter, rectify, reflect, regard, regress,
     reinforce, remind one of, remove all doubt, replace, resemble,
     respect, restrict, result, retrogress, revert, root for,
     rub off corners, run after, run down, run to earth, satisfy,
     savor of, savvy, scout, search, search for, see, see through,
     see to, seek, seek for, seek out, seem like, seize,
     seize the meaning, sense, serenade, serve, set at rest, settle,
     settle the matter, shadow, shape, show, simulate, smack of,
     smell out, sniff out, solicit advice, sound like, spark,
     specialize, specialize in, spy upon, squire, stack up with, stalk,
     still-hunt, straighten, string along, subserve, succeed, sue,
     suggest, suit, supersede, supervene, supplant, support, swain,
     sweetheart, tackle, tag, tag after, tag along, tail, tailgate,
     take, take advice, take after, take in, take on, take out after,
     take to, take up, tall, tally with, terminate, trace, trace down,
     track, track down, trail, trail after, trail behind, try to find,
     turn out, understand, undertake, unfold, use, view, wage, want,
     watch, woo, work at, work out, yield