FOL'LOW, v.t.

1. To come after another. The famine – shall follow close after you. Jer. xlii.
2. To attend; to accompany. Shak.
3. To be posterior in time; as following ages.
4. To be consequential, as effect to cause. From such measures, great mischiefs must follow.
5. To result, as an inference. The facts may be admitted, but the inference drawn from them does not follow. To follow on, to continue pursuit or endeavor; to persevere. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. Hosea vi.

1. To go after or behind; to walk, ride or move behind, but in the same direction. Soldiers will usually follow a brave officer.
2. To pursue; to chase; as an enemy, or as game.
3. To accompany; to attend in a journey. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode on the camels, and followed the man. Gen. xxiv.
4. To accompany; to be of the same company; to attend, for any purpose. Luke v.
5. To succeed in order of time; to come after; as, a storm is followed by a calm. Signs following signs lead on the mighty year. Pope.
6. To be consequential; to result from, as effect from a cause. Intemperance is often followed by disease or poverty, or by both.
7. To result from, as an inference or deduction. It follows from these facts that the accused is guilty.
8. To pursue with the eye; to keep the eyes fixed on a moving body. He followed or his eyes followed the ship, till it was beyond sight. He followed with his eyes the fleeting shade. Dryden.
9. To imitate; to copy; as, to follow a pattern or model; to follow fashion.
10. To embrace; to adopt and maintain; to have or entertain like opinions; to think or believe like another; as, to follow the opinions and tenets of a philosophic sect; to follow Plato.
11. To obey; to observe; to practice; to act in conformity to. It is our duty to follow the commands of Christ. Good soldiers follow the orders of their general; good servants follow the directions of their master.
12. To pursue as an object of desire; to endeavor to obtain. Follow peace with all men. Heb. xii.
13. To use; to practice: to make the ehief business; as, to follow the trade of a carpenter; to follow the profession of law.
14. To adhere to; to side with. The house of Judah followed David. 2 Sam. ii.
15. To adhere to; to honor; to worship; to serve. If the Lord be God, follow him. 1 Kings xviii.
16. To be led or guided by. Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and here seen nothing. Ezek. xiii.
17. To move on in the same course or direction; to be guided by; as, to follow a track or course.

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 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.

3. The art or process of following; specif., in some games, as billiards, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it. Also used adjectively; as, follow shot.
4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.
8. To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise.
9. 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.

10. 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.