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Follow vs Next - What's the difference?

follow | next |

As a verb follow

is to go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction.

As an adjective next is

following in a sequence.

As a determiner next is

the one immediately following the current or most recent one.

As an adverb next is

in a time, place or sequence closest or following.

As a preposition next is

on the side of; next to.

As a noun next is

the one that follows after this one.

follow

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction.
  • To go or come after in a sequence.
  • We both ordered the soup, with roast beef to follow .
  • To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.
  • To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).
  • To understand, to pay attention to.
  • To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.
  • To be a logical consequence of.
  • To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.
  • * Shakespeare
  • O, had I but followed the arts!

    Synonyms

    * (go after in a physical space) trail, tail * (in a sequence) succeed * (carry out) pursue * (be a consequence) ensue

    Antonyms

    * (go after in a physical space) guide, lead * (go after in a sequence) precede

    Derived terms

    * followable * follow along * followed by * follower * following * follow in someone's footsteps * follow on * follow out * follow shot * follow suit * follow someone off a cliff * follow the leader/follow-the-leader * follow the queen * follow through * follow-through * follow up * follow-up * hard act to follow * soon to follow * tough act to follow

    See also

    * chase

    Statistics

    *

    next

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (dialectal) * (l) (Scotland)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Following in a sequence.
  • Being closer to the present location than all other items.
  • * , chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.}}
  • Nearest following (of date, time, space or order).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • (figuratively) Following in a hypothetical sequence of some kind.
  • *
  • Antonyms

    * previous * (closest to seven days ahead) last, this

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • The one immediately following the current or most recent one
  • Next week would be a good time to meet.
    I'll know better next time.
  • Closest to seven days (one week) in the future.
  • The party is next Tuesday; that is, not this Tuesday, but nine days from now.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a time, place or sequence closest or following.
  • They live in the next closest house.
    It's the next best thing to ice cream.
    Next , we stripped off the old paint.
  • On the first subsequent occasion,
  • Financial panic, earthquakes, oil spills, riots. What comes next ?
    When we next meet, you'll be married.

    Antonyms

    * previously

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • On the side of; next to.
  • * 1900 , The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices , translated by Walter Leaf (London, Macmillan), notes on line 558 of book 2:
  • The fact that the line cannot be original is patent from the fact that Aias in the rest of the Iliad is not encamped next the Athenians .

    Noun

    (-)
  • The one that follows after this one.
  • ''Next , please, don't hold up the queue!