What does "follow" mean?
Follow: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.3. 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.
- 3.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.- To pursue; chase; go after; attend; accompany; succeed; imitate; copy; embrace; maintain. - 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.
- 9.To go or come after; -- used in the various senses of the transitive verb: To pursue; to attend; to accompany; to be a result; to imitate. Syn.- To Follow, Succeed, Ensue. To follow (v.i.) means simply to come after; as, a crowd followed. To succeed means to come after in some regular series or succession; as, day succeeds to day, and night to night. To ensue means to follow by some established connection or principle of sequence. As wave follows wave, revolution succeeds to revolution; and nothing ensues but accumulated wretchedness.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/answers/what-does-follow-mean
- Steward: Jason Burns
- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00