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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Follow \Fol"low\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Followed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Following}.][OE. foluwen, folwen, folgen, AS. folgian, fylgean, fylgan; akin to D. volgen, OHG. folg[=e]n, G. folgen, Icel. fylgja, Sw. f["o]lja, Dan. f["o]lge, and perh. to E. folk.]
1. To go or come after; to move behind in the same path or direction; hence, to go with (a leader, guide, etc.); to accompany; to attend.
It waves me forth again; I'll follow it. --Shak.
2. To endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute.
I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. --Ex. xiv. 17.
3. To accept as authority; to adopt the opinions of; to obey; to yield to; to take as a rule of action; as, to follow good advice.
Approve the best, and follow what I approve. --Milton.
Follow peace with all men. --Heb. xii. 14.
It is most agreeable to some men to follow their reason; and to others to follow their appetites. --J. Edwards.
4. To copy after; to take as an example.
We had rather follow the perfections of them whom we like not, than in defects resemble them whom we love. --Hooker.
5. To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.
6. To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise.
7. To watch, as a receding object; to keep the eyes fixed upon while in motion; to keep the mind upon while in progress, as a speech, musical performance, etc.; also, to keep up with; to understand the meaning, connection, or force of, as of a course of thought or argument.
He followed with his eyes the flitting shade. --Dryden.
8. To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.
O, had I but followed the arts! --Shak.
O Antony! I have followed thee to this. --Shak.
{Follow board} (Founding), a board on which the pattern and the flask lie while the sand is rammed into the flask. --Knight.
{To follow the hounds}, to hunt with dogs.
{To follow suit} (Card Playing), to play a card of the same suit as the leading card; hence, colloquially, to follow an example set.
{To follow up}, to pursue indefatigably.
Syn: Syn.- To pursue; chase; go after; attend; accompany; succeed; imitate; copy; embrace; maintain.
Usage: - To {Follow}, {Pursue}. To follow (v.t.) denotes simply to go after; to pursue denotes to follow with earnestness, and with a view to attain some definite object; as, a hound pursues the deer. So a person follows a companion whom he wishes to overtake on a journey; the officers of justice pursue a felon who has escaped from prison.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Following \Fol"low*ing\, noun
1. One's followers, adherents, or dependents, collectively. --Macaulay.
2. Vocation; business; profession.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Following \Fol"low*ing\, adjective
1. Next after; succeeding; ensuing; as, the assembly was held on the following day.
2. (Astron.) (In the field of a telescope) In the direction from which stars are apparently moving (in consequence of the earth's rotation); as, a small star, north following or south following. In the direction toward which stars appear to move is called preceding.
Note: The four principal directions in the field of a telescope are north, south, following, preceding.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
following
adjective
1: going or proceeding or coming after in the same direction; "the crowd of following cars made the occasion seem like a parade"; "tried to outrun the following footsteps" [ant: {leading}]
2: in the desired direction; "a following wind" [syn: {following(a)}]
3: immediately following in time or order; "the following day"; "next in line"; "the next president"; "the next item on the list" [syn: {next}]
4: about to be mentioned or specified; "the following items" [syn: {following(a)}, {undermentioned}]
noun
1: a group of followers or enthusiasts [syn: {followers}]
2: the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture; "the culprit started to run and the cop took off in pursuit" [syn: {pursuit}, {chase}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
208 Moby Thesaurus words for "following": adherent, after, afterlife, alike, aped, appendage, appendant, attendance, attendant, audience, behind, below, body of retainers, buff, bugging, cadet, cavaliere servente, chase, clientage, clientele, cloak-and-dagger work, cohort, coming, coming after, consecution, consecutive, consecutiveness, consequent, consequential, consimilar, continuation, continuity, copied, copying, cortege, counterespionage, counterfeit, counterfeiting, counterintelligence, court, courtier, cynegetic, dangler, deducible, dependent, derivable, derivational, derivative, descent, disciple, dogging, electronic surveillance, emulation, ensuing, entourage, ersatz, espial, espionage, extension, fake, fakery, fan, favoring, final, fishing, flunky, follow, follow-up, follower, forgery, future time, halieutic, hanger-on, hangover, henchman, hit-off, homme de cour, homogeneous, hue and cry, hunting, identical, imitated, imitation, impersonation, imposture, impression, in full cry, in hot pursuit, in pursuit, infenible, intelligence, intelligence work, junior, lateness, later, like, line, lineage, lineal, logical sequence, military intelligence, mimesis, mimicked, mirroring, mock, nearly reproduced, next, next life, not unlike, observation, onomatopoeia, order, order of succession, parasite, parody, partisan, phony, piscatorial, piscatory, plagiarism, plagiary, postdate, postdating, posterior, posteriority, postposition, postpositional, postpositive, procession, progression, prolongation, prosecution, provenience, proximate, public, puisne, pursuance, pursuant, pursuer, pursuing, pursuit, pursuivant, quest, questing, remainder, repetition, resembling, resultant, resulting, retinue, rotation, rout, satellite, searching, secret police, secret service, sectary, seeking, sequacious, sequence, sequent, sequential, series, shadow, shadowing, similar, simulated, simulation, since, smacking of, something like, spying, stakeout, stalking, stooge, subjunction, subsequence, subsequent, subsequent to, succeeding, succession, successive, successiveness, successor, suffixation, suffixed, suggestive of, suite, supervenience, supervention, supporter, surveillance, synthetic, tagtail, tail, tailing, takeoff, tracking, tracking down, trailing, train, trainbearer, uniform with, votary, ward heeler, wiretap, wiretapping, younger
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |