follow

1 of 2

verb

fol·low ˈfä-(ˌ)lō

followed; following; follows

transitive verb

: to go, proceed, or come after

followed the guide

: to engage in as a calling or way of life : pursue

wheat-growing is generally followed here

: to walk or proceed along

follow a path

: to be or act in accordance with

follow directions

: to accept as authority : obey

followed his conscience

: to pursue in an effort to overtake

Police followed the robbers attempting to escape.

: to seek to attain

follow knowledge

: to come into existence or take place as a result or consequence of

disaster followed the blunder

: to come or take place after in time, sequence, or order

A juggling act followed the singer.

: to cause to be followed

followed dinner with a liqueur

: to copy after : imitate

the new building follows the facades and roof lines of the original buildings

Maxwell Mays

: to watch steadily

followed the flight of the ball

: to keep the mind on

follow a speech

: to attend closely to : keep abreast of

followed his career with interest

: to understand the sense or logic of (something, such as a line of thought)

I don't quite follow your thinking.

: to subscribe to the feed of (someone or something) especially on social media

intransitive verb

: to go or come after a person or thing in place, time, or sequence

If one sheep goes through the gate, the rest will follow.

: to result or occur as a consequence, effect, or inference

Just because he's done some bad things, does it follow that he is a bad person?

2 of 2

noun

: the act or process of following

: forward spin given to a ball by striking it above center compare draw, english

Phrases

as follows

: as comes next

—used impersonally

The names of the winners are as follows: Mary, James, and Sylvia.

follow one's nose

: to go in a straight or obvious course

Just follow your nose until you get there; you can't miss it.

: to proceed without plan or reflection : obey one's instincts

You don't need my advice—just follow your nose.

follow suit

: to play a card of the same suit as the card led

: to follow an example set

When one airline lowers its fares, the others usually follow suit.

Choose the Right Synonym for follow

follow, succeed, ensue, supervene mean to come after something or someone.

follow may apply to a coming after in time, position, or logical sequence.

speeches followed the dinner

succeed implies a coming after immediately in a sequence determined by natural order, inheritance, election, or laws of rank.

she succeeded her father as head of the business

ensue commonly suggests a logical consequence or naturally expected development.

after the talk a general discussion ensued

supervene suggests the following or beginning of something unforeseen or unpredictable.

unable to continue because of supervening circumstances

synonyms see in addition chase

Example Sentences

Verb She followed us into the kitchen. The dog followed the children home. The exit is right this way. Just follow me. The children went home and the dog followed behind. If one sheep goes through the gate, the rest will follow. The number 15 follows 14. Her accident was followed by a long period of recovery. First came the student speeches, and the presentation of awards followed. Rioting followed the unjust verdict. If you work hard, success will surely follow. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Hon expects the current eruption to follow this pattern.

Caleb Jones And Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, USA TODAY, 1 Dec. 2022 Some of those missing elements gradually make appearances in the 11 episodes that follow, and some do not.

David Klion, The New Republic, 1 Dec. 2022 Iran’s foreign operations tend to follow a playbook.

Yeganeh Torbati, Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2022 Some people don’t like being involved in the process, but most are still likely to follow an organized structure created by someone else, Teeple said.

Kristen Rogers, CNN, 1 Dec. 2022 The story is about Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who follow a sister act to Vermont and perform at a venue owned by their former commanding general.

John Coffren, Baltimore Sun, 1 Dec. 2022 The panoptic awareness created by virality is an Eye of Sauron, a lidless and unceasing glare that will follow you to the ends of the earth.

WIRED, 1 Dec. 2022 Iran’s foreign operations tend to follow a playbook.

Shane Harris, Souad Mekhennet And Yeganeh Torbati, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Dec. 2022 Times staff writer Ian James talks about some early mapping being done and the potentially promising tech that could follow.

Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2022

Noun

Owen Wilson also recently teased a Wedding Crashers follow-up could still happen.

Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2022 The follow-up to Jurassic Park boasts even thinner characters than the original film, which means there isn't an abundance of great performances despite the actors' best efforts.

Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 1 Dec. 2022 Rian Johnson’s follow-up to his 2019 hit murder mystery features another all-star cast, led by Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc who travels to Greece for his next case.

Ben Flanagan | Bflanagan@al.com, al, 1 Dec. 2022 Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried also briefly discussed what everyone really wants to hear: Will there be a follow-up to Mean Girls?

Carrie Wittmer, Glamour, 30 Nov. 2022 But the need or value of that follow-up is entirely unclear, Robertson said.

Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2022 The researchers looked at scans that were taken at the time of the injections, as well as two years before and after, and found more severe cartilage deterioration by the two-year follow-up mark among the steroid-taking group.

Angela Yang, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2022 The market agreed, and the OG Lytro and its follow-up the Illum both flopped.

PCMAG, 29 Nov. 2022 This version, which was driven by Michael Keaton in 1989’s Batman and its follow-up, 1992’s Batman Returns, just might be the most iconic.

Dana Givens, Robb Report, 29 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'follow.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.