follow
Americanverb (used with object)
-
follows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
followed,
past participle, past
-
following
present participle
-
to come after in sequence, order of time, etc..
The speech follows the dinner.
- Antonyms:
- precede
-
to go or come after; move behind in the same direction.
Drive ahead, and I'll follow you.
- Antonyms:
- lead
-
to accept as a guide or leader; accept the authority of or give allegiance to.
Many Germans followed Hitler.
- Synonyms:
- obey
- Antonyms:
- lead
-
to conform to, comply with, or act in accordance with; obey.
to follow orders; to follow advice.
- Antonyms:
- disregard
-
to imitate or copy; use as an exemplar.
They follow the latest fads.
-
to move forward along (a road, path, etc.).
Follow this road for a mile.
-
to come after as a result or consequence; result from.
Reprisals often follow victory.
-
to go after or along with (a person) as companion.
-
to go in pursuit of.
to follow an enemy.
- Antonyms:
- flee
-
to try for or attain to.
to follow an ideal.
-
to engage in or be concerned with as a pursuit.
He followed the sea as his true calling.
-
to watch the movements, progress, or course of.
to follow a bird in flight.
-
to watch the development of or keep up with.
to follow the news.
-
Digital Technology. to indicate interest in and establish a connection with (a social media account) so as to keep up with the online content it publishes, as posts, images, or videos.
I follow my friends and some celebrities on Twitter, but nobody who tweets political stuff.
-
to keep up with and understand (an argument, story, etc.).
Do you follow me?
verb (used without object)
-
follows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
followed,
past participle, past
-
following
present participle
-
to come next after something else in sequence, order of time, etc.
-
to happen or occur after something else; come next as an event.
After the defeat great disorder followed.
-
to attend or serve.
-
to go or come after a person or thing in motion.
-
to result as an effect; occur as a consequence.
It follows then that he must be innocent.
noun
-
the act of following.
-
Digital Technology. an instance of following or subscribing to online content published by a social media account.
Using hashtags is one way to get more follows on Instagram.
-
Billiards, Pool. follow shot.
adjective
verb phrase
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follow through
-
to carry out fully, as a stroke of a club in golf, a racket in tennis, etc.
-
to continue an effort, plan, proposal, policy, etc., to its completion.
-
-
follow up
-
to pursue closely and tenaciously.
-
to increase the effectiveness of by further action or repetition.
-
to pursue to a solution or conclusion.
-
-
follow out to carry to a conclusion; execute.
They followed out their orders to the letter.
idioms
verb
-
to go or come after in the same direction
he followed his friend home
-
(tr) to accompany; attend
she followed her sister everywhere
-
to come after as a logical or natural consequence
-
(tr) to keep to the course or track of
she followed the towpath
-
(tr) to act in accordance with; obey
to follow instructions
-
(tr) to accept the ideas or beliefs of (a previous authority, etc)
he followed Donne in most of his teachings
-
to understand (an explanation, argument, etc)
the lesson was difficult to follow
-
to watch closely or continuously
she followed his progress carefully
-
(tr) to have a keen interest in
to follow athletics
-
(tr) to help in the cause of or accept the leadership of
the men who followed Napoleon
-
(tr) to choose to receive messages posted by (a blogger or microblogger)
I've been following her online
-
rare (tr) to earn a living at or in
to follow the Navy
-
cards
-
to play a card of the same suit as the card played immediately before it
-
to do the same as someone else
-
noun
Synonym Usage
Follow, ensue, result, succeed imply coming after something else, in a natural sequence. Follow is the general word: We must wait to see what follows. A detailed account follows. Ensue implies a logical sequence, what might be expected normally to come after a given act, cause, etc.: When the power lines were cut, a paralysis of transportation ensued. Result emphasizes the connection between a cause or event and its effect, consequence, or outcome: The accident resulted in injuries to those involved. Succeed implies coming after in time, particularly coming into a title, office, etc.: Formerly the oldest son succeeded to his father's title.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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followsimple
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followssimple
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have followedperfect
-
has followedperfect
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am followingprogressive
-
are followingprogressive
-
is followingprogressive
-
have been followingperfect progressive
-
has been followingperfect progressive
Past
-
followedsimple
-
had followedperfect
-
was followingprogressive
-
were followingprogressive
-
had been followingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of follow
First recorded before 900; Middle English fol(o)wen, Old English folgian; cognate with Old Saxon folgōn, Old High German folgēn, folgōn ( German folgen )
Explanation
Do you know when orange is the new black? When pleats are in style? Then you must follow fashion — you observe it closely. Follow can also mean you trail along behind someone. You might follow your brother to school. If you follow something, such as line of argument, that means you understand it. If you follow through on something, such as a diet, that means you stick to it. Follow can also describe a sequence of events. Your election as class president might follow a scandal involving your opponent. Follow can also mean something is a logical consequence of something else. It follows that having read these examples you now understand the various meanings of follow. You follow me?
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:
When these signals follow a predictable pattern, they help keep the body's biological rhythms aligned.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2026
No agreement was expected to follow the talks, an unnamed, senior American official said, according to news agencies AP and Reuters.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
Their trading tended to follow public signals rather than anticipate price changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
Significant restocking needs to follow massive inventory draws from storage, which could “absorb” some of the anticipated supply surplus, said Babin.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 13, 2026
Her hand leaves the back of the couch and grabs the counter for support before her shuffling feet follow.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
It follows a bitter morning on Saturday with minus 7.2C recorded at South Newington in Oxfordshire - the lowest temperature of the autumn so far.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
Huang’s resignation follows reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with Alice Huang, a Singapore-based businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence officials reportedly suspect of working for Chinese intelligence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026
The request follows reports that Nvidia’s board prepared to oust CEO Jensen Huang over affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
"It follows that piecemeal horse-trading is in; a grand bargain is out."
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026
The witch’s eyes and head bobbed side to side, following the light emanating from the ear pendant much like a cobra follows the movement of a charmer’s flute.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The findings followed the same general pattern seen in the colon cancer experiments.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
Data from Sifma showed that previously, bear markets have followed past years of peak IPO issuance — although the sample size is small, at just two.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 15, 2026
More interested in his research than politics, however, he finished his Ph.D. in statistics in Chicago and landed an assistant professorship at Harvard, followed by a job at Stanford University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2026
What followed was a relentless two-year fight by his parents to track him down and bring him back to England to face justice.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
For a mile the road followed the shore of the lake, then left it to climb a hill.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The reason involved ribosomes, the tiny cellular machines that assemble proteins by following genetic instructions.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
MacKinnon was thrown out of the medical school in 1983 following a failed appeal.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2026
In the first game of the day, Crenshaw defeated South Gate 7-0 in the Division IV final, and in the following Division III final, Sotomayor scored late in the fourth quarter to edge Santee 6-0.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2026
Megaspeed says it takes compliance seriously and is committed to following U.S. law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2026
As threatened, the physicians’ letter appeared in the following day’s paper.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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