follow

verb

1 go after sb/sth

ADVERB

▪ closely

▪

Johnson finished first, closely followed by Stevens and Higgins.

▪ reluctantly

▪ dutifully, obediently

▪

The dog followed obediently at her heels.

▪ blindly

▪

She followed blindly, stumbling over stones in her path.

▪ quietly, silently

▪ slowly

▪ on

▪

You go ahead and we'll follow on later.

VERB + FOLLOW

▪ beckon sb to, beckon to sb to

▪

She beckoned him to follow her.

PHRASES

▪ being followed

▪

As she walked home, she had the feeling she was being followed.

▪ follow close behind (sb), follow right behind (sb)

▪

Ray came out of the bedroom, Mary following close behind.

2 happen after sth

ADVERB

▪ closely, quickly, shortly, soon, swiftly

▪

More information will follow shortly.

▪ directly, immediately, instantly

▪

in the period immediately following the election

PHRASES

▪ (be) followed by sth

▪

Any argument was always followed by a few days of silence.

▪ follow in the wake of sth

▪

the workers' revolts that followed in the wake of the student uprising

3 happen/be true as a result of sth

ADVERB

▪ not necessarily

▪

It does not necessarily follow that sleep loss would cause these symptoms.

▪ logically

▪ naturally

▪ automatically

PREPOSITION

▪ (on) from

▪

Several conclusions follow on from his statement.

4 accept advice/instructions

ADVERB

▪ carefully, to the letter

▪

Follow my instructions very carefully.

▪ dutifully, obediently

5 copy

ADVERB

▪ faithfully

▪

The movie follows the book faithfully.

▪ blindly, slavishly

▪

It wasn't in his nature to follow blindly.

▪

slavishly following the views of his teachers

VERB + FOLLOW

▪ be expected to, be likely to

▪

Other companies are likely to follow Z-Quest in applying for an exemption.

PHRASES

▪ follow in sb's footsteps

▪

He wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps and be a ballroom dancer.

▪ follow in the tradition of sb/sth

▪

How do your feel your writing follows in the tradition of the South?

▪ follow suit (= act or behave in the way that sb else has just done)

6 understand sth

ADVERB

▪ not quite

▪

I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow you (= understand what you are saying).

VERB + FOLLOW

▪ be easy to

▪ be difficult to, be hard to, be impossible to

▪

His argument was difficult to follow.

Follow is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑adjective, ↑consequence, ↑disappointment, ↑eye, ↑fighting, ↑footpath, ↑furore, ↑gaze, ↑hound, ↑movie, ↑noun, ↑path, ↑pause, ↑quiet, ↑recommendation, ↑retribution, ↑riot, ↑route, ↑silence, ↑trail

Follow is used with these nouns as the object: ↑advice, ↑agenda, ↑approach, ↑arc, ↑arrow, ↑baseball, ↑belief, ↑blueprint, ↑clue, ↑coast, ↑coastline, ↑code, ↑conscience, ↑convention, ↑counsel, ↑course, ↑cricket, ↑crowd, ↑cue, ↑curriculum, ↑custom, ↑cycle, ↑design, ↑diet, ↑direction, ↑directive, ↑doctrine, ↑dream, ↑drift, ↑example, ↑fashion, ↑father, ↑flow, ↑football, ↑footpath, ↑footprint, ↑footstep, ↑format, ↑formula, ↑fortune, ↑gaze, ↑god, ↑guidance, ↑guideline, ↑heart, ↑herd, ↑hunch, ↑impulse, ↑inclination, ↑injunction, ↑instinct, ↑instruction, ↑itinerary, ↑law, ↑lead, ↑line, ↑link, ↑logic, ↑map, ↑maxim, ↑method, ↑movement, ↑news, ↑noun, ↑occupation, ↑order, ↑path, ↑pattern, ↑philosophy, ↑plan, ↑policy, ↑politics, ↑practice, ↑precaution, ↑precedent, ↑procedure, ↑programme, ↑progress, ↑pursuit, ↑reasoning, ↑recipe, ↑recommendation, ↑regime, ↑regimen, ↑religion, ↑rhythm, ↑ritual, ↑river, ↑road, ↑route, ↑routine, ↑rule, ↑ruling, ↑scent, ↑sequence, ↑shore, ↑sign, ↑step, ↑story, ↑strategy, ↑style, ↑suggestion, ↑syllabus, ↑teaching, ↑thread, ↑timetable, ↑tip, ↑track, ↑trade, ↑tradition, ↑trail, ↑trend, ↑vocation, ↑whim