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• follow-up
  follow-up

  noun

  the act of following up.
• follow up
  follow up

  verb

  to pursue or investigate (a person, evidence, etc) closely

follow-up

American  

[fol-oh-uhp] / ˈfɒl oʊˌʌp /

noun

• follow-ups
  plural

1. the act of following up.

2. an action or thing that serves to increase the effectiveness of a previous one, as a second or subsequent letter, phone call, or visit.

3. Also called follow. Journalism.

   1. a news story providing additional information on a story or article previously published.

   2. Also called supplementary story, sidebar. a minor news story used to supplement a related story of major importance.

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adjective

1. designed or serving to follow up, especially to increase the effectiveness of a previous action.

   a follow-up interview; a follow-up offer.

2. 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

1. to pursue or investigate (a person, evidence, etc) closely

2. to continue (action) after a beginning, esp to increase its effect

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noun

1. 1. something done to reinforce an initial action

   2. ( as modifier )

      a follow-up letter

2. med a routine examination of a patient at various intervals after medical or surgical treatment

follow up Idioms  

1. Carry to completion. For example, I'm following up their suggestions with concrete proposals . Also see follow through .

2. 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]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• follow-ups
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of follow-up

First recorded in 1920–25; noun, adj. use of verb phrase follow up

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

follow-up follow up follow-ups

U2's follow-up, Easter Lily, was more reflective, asking whether faith and friendship are enough to sustain us in challenging times.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Among the author’s valuable if broad recommendations, he urges legislation that would establish mandatory follow-up care after the treatment of serious mental illness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

If “rinse and repeat” doesn’t work, try the “gray rock” approach: Say and do very little or even nothing in response to any follow-up queries from her.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

Now it’s time to ask a follow-up question.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

She looked so pleased, I was a bit bummed I had no follow-up and was forced to revert to my own, less impressive repertoire of replies.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Neither Mourinho nor Solskjaer could follow up their 3-2 successes with another victory.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

The literature laureate will be revealed on Thursday, with some pundits suggesting that the Swedish Academy could follow up last year's award to Hungary's Laszlo Krasznahorkai with a woman writer, possibly from Latin America.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

Regulators will be able to to find leaks and follow up faster to make sure operators have made repairs, Buckley added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

I want to follow up on what you said about standing doctrine and the environmental cases.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

However powerful Stanton’s words, they were still not strong enough for Congress to follow up with concrete steps to grant women the right to vote.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

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

"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

Moreover, the follow-ups indicated to Disney that other Pixar franchises could be a viable revenue stream, no matter the public’s response to the films.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

The British agent had not appeared in a game title for more than a decade before "First Light" -- with follow-ups to 1997 Nintendo 64 mega-hit "Goldeneye" leaving most players neither shaken nor stirred.

From Barron's ● May 26, 2026

He read it, a few follow-ups, and comments from many other papers.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

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