follow-up
noun
the act of following up.
follow-up
American
[fol-oh-uhp]
/ ˈfɒl oʊˌʌp /
noun
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follow-ups
plural
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the act of following up.
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an action or thing that serves to increase the effectiveness of a previous one, as a second or subsequent letter, phone call, or visit.
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Also called follow. Journalism.
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a news story providing additional information on a story or article previously published.
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Also called supplementary story. Also called sidebar. a minor news story used to supplement a related story of major importance.
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adjective
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designed or serving to follow up, especially to increase the effectiveness of a previous action.
a follow-up interview; a follow-up offer.
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of or relating to action that follows an initial treatment, course of study, etc..
follow-up care for mental patients; a follow-up survey.
follow up
British
verb
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to pursue or investigate (a person, evidence, etc) closely
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to continue (action) after a beginning, esp to increase its effect
noun
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something done to reinforce an initial action
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( as modifier )
a follow-up letter
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med a routine examination of a patient at various intervals after medical or surgical treatment
follow up
Idioms
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Carry to completion. For example, I'm following up their suggestions with concrete proposals . Also see follow through .
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Increase the effectiveness or enhance the success of something by further action. For example, She followed up her interview with a phone call . [Late 1700s]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of follow-up
First recorded in 1920–25; noun, adj. use of verb phrase follow up
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Since she never existed, Florence Broadside could not have written a follow-up 23 years later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The researchers also note that some participants may have switched from one medication to another during the follow-up period.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Who ever heard of a major movie studio throwing $75 million at a follow-up that serves no purpose other than capitalizing on learned nostalgia, exacerbated by social media clip farming and seasonal wistfulness?
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
After its follow-up drive went nowhere, Louisiana made the mistake of punting to Mosley, who took off sprinting to his right and didn’t stop until he reached paydirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
He smiled, and before the girls could ask any follow-up questions, he crawled down into an opening just wide enough for his shoulders.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
“That by itself then creates a bit of pressure to follow up with actions rather than just have it be words,” Dudley said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
When Johnson called to follow up, Monk, by now feeling distrustful of everyone, suspected he was another phony and demanded to see a badge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
BBC Sport understands that there is an inital fee alongside follow up payments and the figure of around £30m is at the top of what can be achieved.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
“Unfortunately, a lot of time, it might end there for a while. We’ll follow up a couple of times, and then it’s up to them. All we can do is advise and educate them.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
But Digges did not devote his life to science any more than Copernicus did, and he didn’t follow up these ideas.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
He pointedly allowed just one question each from journalists who in past news conferences got to ask follow-ups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The human interaction, back-and-forth questions and follow-ups are essential to keep their stories authentic and anti-AI — a system that is proving to be detrimental to teaching writing skills.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"People don't know when to expect a reply or who else can help, and that uncertainty is what leads to the 'just-in-case' follow-ups," says Charlotte Davies, a career expert at Linkedin.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
While the original papers claimed advances for quantum computing and made their way into top scientific journals, the individual follow-ups could not make it past the editors at those same journals.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026
When we were little, we’d ask, “Why do people go to the bathroom?” or “Why do you need a job?” and then blitz them with follow-ups.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
