follow
verb uk/ˈfɒl.əʊ/ us/ˈfɑː.loʊ/
(GO)
A2 [ I or T ]跟随;跟着
to move behind someone or something and go where he, she, or it goes
A dog followed us home. 一条狗跟着我们回了家。
She followed me into the kitchen. 她跟着我进了厨房。
He had the feeling he was being followed (= someone was going after him to catch him or see where he was going). 他觉得自己被跟踪了。
I could feel them following me with their eyes (= watching my movements closely). 我能感觉到他们密切注视着我的一举一动。
Do your own thing, don't just follow the crowd (= do what everyone else does). 做你自己的事，不要只是随大溜。
[ T ]沿着（路等）行进
to go in the same direction as a road, path, etc.
Follow the road for two miles, then turn left. 沿着这条路走两公里，然后向左转。
follow suitC2 仿效
to do the same thing as someone else
When one airline reduces its prices, the rest soon follow suit. 一家航空公司降价，其余的会很快纷纷仿效。
If one company tries to gain the competitive edge with a new product, other companies tend to follow suit.
One chain started offering vegan options and the others quickly followed suit.
France led the way, hoping that other countries would swiftly follow suit.
It's thought that other states may soon follow suit.
- More examples
- He made no answer but walked on, gesturing for me to follow.
- If you lead in the jeep, we'll follow behind on the horses.
- The dogs are specially trained to follow the trail left by the fox.
- The path follows the river closely, occasionally deviating round a clump of trees.
- In the silence that followed, a lone voice piped up from the back of the room.
(HAPPEN)
B1 [ I or T ]发生；在…后发生
to happen or come after something
We were not prepared for the events that followed (= happened next). 我们没有料到后来发生的事。
The book was delivered yesterday with a note saying the bill for it would follow in a day or two. 这本书昨天送到，附信说书的账单一两天后会寄到。
The meal consisted of spinach salad, followed by roast chicken (= with this as the next part). 菜肴包括菠菜色拉，随后是烤鸡。
She published a book of poems and followed it (up) with (= next produced) a novel. 她出版了一部诗集，接着又出版了一本小说。
as followsB2 如下
said to introduce a list of things
The winners are as follows - Woods, Smith, and Cassidy. 获胜者如下：伍兹，史密斯和卡西迪。
The demographics broke down as follows: 48 percent male, 52 percent female, 16 percent under 18 years old, 25 percent age 18-45, 40 percent age 46-65, 19 percent age over 65.
The key trends observed were as follows: low turnout in rural places, higher turnout in urban areas, low turnout for anti-government parties.
Overall, 762 incidents were reported, broken down as follows: violent crimes, 430; vandalism, 212; weapons-related incidents, 56; and substance abuse-related offences, 64.
- More examples
- The women's 200 metre event will be followed by the men's 100 metres.
- I'd like a steak and fries with chocolate mousse to follow.
- The initial earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks.
- This announcement follows months of inaction and delay.
- The war was followed by a long period of peace and prosperity.
(OBEY)
B1 [ T ]听从，遵循，遵从
to obey or to act as ordered by someone
Follow the instructions on the back of the packet carefully. 要仔细地按照盒子背面的使用说明操作。
I decided to follow her advice and go to bed early. 我决定听从她的建议，早早上床睡觉。
Muslims follow the teachings of the Koran. 穆斯林们遵从《可兰经》的教义。
- More examples
- I always follow the instructions on medicine bottles faithfully.
- He follows the orders of his boss without question.
- He followed the famous American dictum, 'Don't get mad, get even'.
- I followed the instructions to the letter and it still went wrong.
- Baking a cake isn't difficult - it's just a matter of following the recipe.
(HAVE INTEREST IN)
C1 [ T ]对…有浓厚兴趣；密切关注
to have a great interest in something or watch something closely
He follows most sports avidly. 他对大多数体育运动有浓厚的兴趣。
They followed her academic progress closely. 他们密切关注她学业上的进展。
- More examples
- Which team do you follow?
- She followed the trial with interest.
- They were able to follow the day's events on their portable radio.
- Analysts have been following the events with interest.
- Have you been following recent political events?
(BE RESULT)
C2 [ not continuous ]产生…结果；是…的可能结果
to happen as a result, or to be a likely result
[ + that ] Just because I agreed last time, it doesn't necessarily follow that I will again. 仅仅是我上次同意并不一定说明我还会再次同意。
- More examples
- If we posit that wage rises cause inflation, it follows that we should try to minimize them.
- How can they claim to reduce taxes and increase spending? It doesn't follow.
- Just because the last forecast was correct, it doesn't necessarily follow that the next one will be.
- Just because one of the suspects has been eliminated from their enquiries, it doesn't follow that the remaining suspect is guilty.
- Because ladybirds eat greenfly, it follows that a decrease in the numbers of ladybirds will lead to a rise in the population of greenfly.
(UNDERSTAND)
B1 [ I or T ]理解，明白
to understand something as it is being said or done
I'm sorry, I don't quite follow (you). 对不起，我不太明白（你的意思）。
His lecture was complicated and difficult to follow. 他的讲座复杂又难懂。
(READ)
[ T ]跟唱；跟读
to read the notes or words of a piece of music or writing at the same time as they are being played or said
(SOCIAL MEDIA)
[ T ]（在社交媒体上）跟进；成为粉丝
If you follow a particular person on a social media website (= a website where people can publish their thoughts, photographs, information about themselves etc.), you choose to see everything that person posts (= publishes) on the website.
Idioms
follow your noseidiom informal UK 凭直觉做事
to trust your own feelings rather than obeying rules or allowing yourself to be influenced by other people's opinions
Take a chance and follow your nose - you may be right! 碰碰运气，凭自己的感觉做事——也许你是对的！
一直向前走
go in a straight line
Turn left, then just follow your nose and you'll see the shop on your left. 左转，然后一直往前走，你会看见商店就在左边。
follow in someone's footstepsidiom C2 仿效
to do the same thing as someone else did previously
She followed in her mother's footsteps, starting her own business. 她效法母亲开办了自己的公司。
Phrasal verbs
follow on 接下来；跟着
to happen or exist as the next part of something
Following on from what I said earlier... 接着我刚才说到的…
follow (something) through （把…）继续下去
to do what needs to be done to complete something
He didn't follow through with his promise to help. 他没有信守承诺提供帮助。
follow through （击球、踢球或掷球后）完成顺势动作，做随球动作
to complete the movement of hitting, kicking, or throwing a ball by continuing to move your arm or leg in the same direction
You need to follow through more on your backhand. 你需要在反手击球后做更充分的随球动作。
follow something upB2 追查…的更多情况;对…采取进一步行动
to find out more about something, or take more action connected with it
The idea sounded interesting and I decided to follow it up. 这个想法听起来很有趣，我决定要作进一步的了解。
He decided to follow up on his initial research and write a book. 他决定继续进行他最初的研究，然后写本书。