follow Definition

follow
verb followed, following

tr & intr
1. To go or come after them, either immediately or shortly afterwards.

Thesaurus: come next, come after, succeed.
Form: follow after someone (also)
2. To accompany someone; to go with them.
3. To secretly go after someone to find out what they are doing; to pursue stealthily.

Thesaurus: pursue, chase, seek, track, hunt, dog, hound, shadow, stalk, tail, trail.
4. To accept someone as leader or authority.
intr
5. To result from it; to be a consequence of it.

Example: It follows that John will arrive around 2pm
Thesaurus: result, spring from, come from, happen, develop, ensue.
Form: follow from something (sometimes)
6. To go along (a road, etc), alongside (a river, etc) or on the path marked by (signs).
7. To watch someone or something as they or it move.

Example: His eyes followed her up the street
8. To do something in a particular way; to practise it.

Example: follow a life of self-denial
Example: follow a trade
9. To conform to something.

Example: follows a familiar pattern
Thesaurus: conform to, imitate, copy, take after, walk in the footsteps of, mirror, reflect, follow the example of, mimic, emulate.
10. To obey (advice, etc).
tr & intr
11. To copy.

Example: follow her example
Example: followed unthinkingly
tr & intr
12. To understand

Example: Do you follow me?
Thesaurus: understand, comprehend, see, catch on, fathom, grasp, get, get the picture.
13. To read (a piece of writing or music) while listening to a performance of it.
14. To take a keen interest in (a sport, etc).

Example: Fiona avidly follows football

Idiom: as follows

As announced immediately after this, or shown in the text below.

Idiom: followed by something

And then; after which.
Example: Sweet, followed by coffee
Example: a trailer followed by the main feature film

Idiom: follow suit

To play a card of the same suit as the one which is leading for that hand.

To do what someone else has done without thinking much about it
Example: Paul always simply follows suit.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon folgian.

Phrasal Verb: follow on

To continue; to take something up where someone else has left off.
Example: I'll follow on after you
Said of a side: to play a follow-on.

Phrasal Verb: follow something out

To carry out (eg instructions) fully, or to their required conclusion.

Phrasal Verb: follow through or follow something through

To continue the action of (a stroke) after hitting the ball. See also follow-through.

Phrasal Verb: follow something through or up

To pursue (an idea, a project, etc) beyond its early stages, and often to fruition; to investigate or test it.

Phrasal Verb: follow something up

To take the next step after a particular procedure. See also follow-up.
Example: followed up their investigations with a detailed report