follow

fol|low [ `falou ] verb ***

▸ 1 walk/drive behind someone

▸ 2 happen after something else

▸ 3 watch/listen carefully

▸ 4 obey order/advice

▸ 5 go along river/road etc.

▸ 6 watch progress

▸ 7 understand something difficult

▸ 8 do same as someone else

▸ 9 do job or spend life

▸ 10 believe in religion etc.

▸ 11 happen in a pattern

▸ 12 when something must be true

▸ 13 about book/movie etc.

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) intransitive or transitive to walk, drive, etc. behind someone, when you are going in the same direction as them:

Ralph set off down the hill, and I followed.

follow someone up/down/to/through/into etc.: Jim opened the door and followed me down the hall.

a ) transitive to walk, drive, etc. closely behind someone in order to watch them:

I felt sure that someone was following me.

I think we're being followed.

2. ) intransitive or transitive to happen or come after something else:

The six o'clock news follows shortly.

the days/weeks/years etc. that followed: In the weeks that followed the situation was very tense.

be followed by something: The wedding will be followed by a reception.

We had soup followed by lasagna and salad.

to follow (=available to be eaten next): There's apple pie and ice cream to follow.

there follows something: There followed seven months of hard negotiations.

a ) to happen as a direct result of something else:

Wild celebrations followed the announcement.

They were warned that if the rebels did not surrender, severe reprisals would follow.

b ) transitive if you follow one thing with another, you do the second after you have done the first:

She followed the success of her first book with another remarkable novel.

3. ) transitive to watch where someone or something is going:

His eyes followed the car to the end of the driveway.

a ) to listen carefully to what someone is saying:

He followed every word of the trial.

4. ) transitive to obey an order or do what someone has advised you to do:

You must follow a few simple guidelines.

follow someone's advice/suggestion: She refused to follow our advice.

follow directions/instructions/orders/rules: The manufacturer's instructions should always be followed carefully.

a ) transitive to go where signs and directions tell you to go:

We followed Joe's directions and found the house easily.

Follow the signs for Lancaster.

5. ) transitive to go along a road, river, etc. in the same direction as it does:

Follow the road down the hill into an intersection.

a ) to go along a path parallel to something:

The road follows the old stream bed.

6. ) transitive to be interested in the progress or development of someone or something:

My father followed the Yankees for forty years.

Have you been following the election campaign?

7. ) transitive often in negatives or questions to understand something, especially something long or complicated:

I couldn't follow what Professor Hope was saying.

I'm sorry, I don't quite follow you.

easy/difficult to follow: Their system is pretty easy to follow.

8. ) intransitive or transitive to do the same thing that someone else has done:

follow someone into something (=decide to do the same job as someone else): She decided not to follow her mother into banking.

follow someone's example/lead: The U.S. may follow Canada's example by banning these products.

Other students followed her lead and boycotted classes.

follow suit (=do what someone else has done): They began to offer takeout food, and other restaurants followed suit.

9. ) transitive if you follow a profession or way of life, you do that job or spend your life in that way

10. ) transitive to believe what a religion or system of ideas teaches and do the things that it tells you to do:

I follow the teachings of the Buddha.

those who follow Christianity

11. ) transitive to happen according to a particular pattern or course:

All the murders have followed the same grisly pattern.

Up to now, ozone losses have tended to follow a two-year cycle.

12. ) intransitive if something follows, it must be true because of something else that is true:

follow from: Two important implications follow from this.

it follows (that): It does not necessarily follow that all criminals come from deprived backgrounds.

13. ) transitive to deal with the progress or development of someone or something in a book, movie, or television program:

The cartoon follows the adventures of an ant named Flick.

as follows

used when you are going to give more details about something

follow the crowd/herd

to do something because most other people are doing it

follow your nose

1. ) to do what you feel is right in a particular situation, although you are not certain

2. ) to go straight forward, without turning:

Just follow your nose until you see the school parking lot.

follow (hard) on the heels of something

to happen very soon after something else:

The factory closure follows hard on the heels of several others.

=> FOOTSTEP

,follow a`round phrasal verb transitive

follow someone around to follow someone wherever they go, especially in a way that annoys them:

Henry's been following me around like a puppy!

,follow `through phrasal verb

1. ) intransitive or transitive to continue doing something until it has been completed:

Jack is always starting projects, but he rarely follows through.

follow through with: The government needs to follow through with some very necessary reforms.

2. ) intransitive to continue the movement of your arm or leg after you have hit, kicked, or thrown a ball in a sport

,follow `up phrasal verb

1. ) intransitive or transitive to try to find out more about something or do something more to deal with it:

They never followed my complaint up.

The police are now following up some new leads.

2. ) transitive follow up with to do something in addition to what you have already done, in order to be certain of achieving your goal:

Follow up the phone call with a written confirmation.