follow

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. go or come after; succeed; tread on the heels of; come or be next; pursue (See pursuit); at-tend, associate with, go with, accompany; adhere to, support; obey, heed; understand; copy, imitate, emulate, practice; ensue, result, be the outcome of. See sequence, imitation, effect, accompaniment, rear.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

1. [To come after]

Syn. succeed, come next, ensue, replace, supplant, postdate, go behind, bring up the rear, tailgate, tag along*; see also succeed 2 .

2. [To regulate one's action]

Syn. conform, observe, imitate, copy, take after, match, follow in the footsteps of, walk in the shoes of, mirror, reflect, follow the example of, do as, mimic, hold fast, follow suit, do like*, emulate, obey, abide by, adhere to, heed, string along, comply, be in keeping, harmonize, be consistent with, attend to, accord; see also conform .

Ant. disregard, neglect*, depart from.

3. [To be a follower]

Syn. serve, support, attend; see accompany 1 , obey 2 .

4. [To go in pursuit of]

Syn. chase, trail, track, stalk; see pursue 1 .

5. [To observe]

Syn. heed, regard, keep an eye on, keep up with; see watch 1 .

6. [To understand]

Syn. comprehend, catch, grasp; see understand 1 .

7. [To result]

Syn. result, ensue, proceed from, spring from, come from, happen, develop, arise; see also result .

Syn.- follow is the general word meaning to come or occur after, but it does not necessarily imply a causal relationship with what goes before [ sunshine followed by rain ] ; ensue implies that what follows comes as a logical consequence of what preceded [ clouds appeared and rain ensued] ; succeed implies that what follows takes the place of what preceded [ who succeeded Polk to the presidency? ] ; result stresses a definite relationship of cause and effect between what follows and what preceded [ crime that results from poverty ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.

1. come after ensue, succeed, supplant, supersede, proceed, replace, take the place of, result, issue, emanate.

2. trail stay behind, *bring up the rear, shadow, tail, track, *dog, hunt down, chase, pursue, go after.

3. abide by obey, conform to, heed, regard, mind, comply with, do what is told, emulate, copy, imitate.

ANT.: 1. precede, antedate. 2. trailblaze, head up, lead. 3. disregard, ignore

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To keep (another) under surveillance by moving along behind: dog, shadow, track, trail. Informal: bird-dog, tail. See PRECEDE. 2. To act in conformity with: abide by, adhere, carry out, comply, conform, keep, mind, obey, observe. Idiom: toe the line (or mark). See ACCEPT, SAME. 3. To take as a model or make conform to a model: copy, emulate, imitate, model (on, upon, or after), pattern (on, upon, or after). Idioms: follow in the footsteps of, follow suit, follow the example of. See SAME. 4. To occur after in time: ensue, succeed, supervene. Idiom: follow on (or upon) the heels of. See PRECEDE, TIME. 5. To occur as a consequence: attend, ensue, result. See CAUSE, PRECEDE. 6. To perceive and recognize the meaning of: accept, apprehend, catch (on), compass, comprehend, conceive, fathom, get, grasp, make out, read, see, sense, take, take in, understand. Informal: savvy. Slang: dig. Chiefly British: twig. Scots: ken. Idioms: get (or have) a handle on, get the picture. See UNDERSTAND.