DictionaryAI

following

SayFOL-oh-ing/ˈfɑloʊɪŋ/UK/ˈfɒləʊɪŋ/

Noun pluralfollowings

10 meanings of following

Practice

  1. 1
    afterpreposition
    Coming after a particular event in time.

    Following the meeting, we went out for dinner.

    The store reopened following the storm.

    UsageSome people prefer after in careful writing: after the storm.

    Similarafter

    Oppositebefore

  2. 2
    listed belowadjective
    Soon to be named, listed, or shown in the text.

    Please answer the following questions before Friday.

    The recipe needs the following ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs.

    UsageUsually after the, and the list comes next: the following questions.

    Oppositeaforementioned, aforesaid

    Note
  3. 3
    nextadjective
    Coming next in order or in time.

    Like the next day on a calendar: it comes right after.

    She arrived on Monday and left the following day.

    We won the first game but lost the following match.

    UsageNext week is the week after this one; the following week is the week after another time.

    Similarnext, subsequent, succeeding

    Oppositepreceding

    Note
  4. 4
    pursuingverb
    Present participle and gerund of follow, used in continuous verb forms or to name an action.

    The puppy keeps following me from room to room.

    She is following the recipe step by step.

    Note
  5. 5
    listed below (by itself)nounwith the
    The thing or things named right after.

    The following is a list of everyone who passed the test.

    Please read the following before you sign the form.

    UsageSay the following is for one thing and the following are for more than one.

  6. 6
    supportersnouncountable
    A group of people who support or admire someone or something.

    Like a crowd of fans who go everywhere their hero goes.

    The singer has a huge following among teenagers.

    The new restaurant quickly gained a loyal following.

    UsageA following is the whole group; one person in it is a follower.

    Similaraudience, fanbase, base, constituency

    Note
  7. 7
    preposition
    Done in the way a rule or plan says to.

    Following company policy, all visitors must sign in.

    The dish was prepared following the chef's original recipe.

    Similarper

Less common meanings

  1. 8
    nouncountable
    On social media, an account that you have chosen to follow.
    A follower can follow any other users and receive any kind of tweets from his or her followings.
    2017, Konglin Zhu, Xiaoming Fu
    When a new user joins Weibo, he should register Weibo and get a unique ID, and then he takes some existing users as his followings and waits for others to follow him.
    2014, Zhengbiao Guo, Zhitang Li
    Note
  2. 9
    wind from behindadjective
    Blowing the same way you are moving, and helping you along.

    Like wind at your back that pushes you forward.

    A following wind pushed the boat quickly across the bay.

    Runners enjoyed a following wind on the final straight.

  3. 10
    nounobsolete
    The job or trade that someone works at.

following is a form of follow

follow, verb: To come after something else in an order or list. Full entry

Forms
followfollows he/she/itfollowing -ing formfollowed past tense, past participle
Spelling
follow → following: add -ing

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of following apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This word comes from the verb "follow" plus the ending "-ing".

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact