follower
(ˈfɒləʊə(r))
[OE. folᵹere, f. as prec. + -er1.]
1. One who follows (in the literal sense).
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 174 Clouds of Sand arise; Spurn'd, and cast backward on the Follower's Eyes. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 57 All the 10 arrows are taken by one of them, who goes foremost, and is called the leader; the other being called the follower, for distinction's sake. |
b. Something that comes after or succeeds something else.
| c 1450 Pecock (title) The Folewer to the Donet. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 50 One word so as it were begetting another, as..by the former a man shall haue a neere gesse to the follower. 1879 Furnivall Rep. E.E.T.S. 17 When the Catholicon is finisht, what its follower shall be can be discusst. |
c. One who follows in order to catch or come up with another; a pursuer.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI i. iv. 22 Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. iii. x. (1622) 105 Stealing by dangerous by-wayes [he] beguiled his followers. |
2. a. One who follows another as his attendant, servant, retainer, or the like.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxix. §1 Be ðam cyninge and be his folᵹerum. c 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 189/30 Assecla, folᵹere. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 549, I haue ben his folwar al þis fifty wyntre. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 169/2 Folware, or serwante folowynge hys mastyr or souereyne, pedissequus. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (an. 2) 190 b, Certain of his henxmen or folowers wer taken. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 1039 And forc'd æneas..To leave his Foll'wers on a Foreign Coast. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge viii, The Captain eyed his follower over. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 275 All Followers and Retainers of the Camp. |
b. One who follows another in regard to his teaching or opinions; an adherent or disciple; also one who follows an example, model, rule of conduct, etc.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 41 Ȝe modi menn, ðes dieules folȝeres. a 1225 Ancr. R. 364 Sikerliche his feoleware mot mid pine of his flesche uoluwen his pinen. 1388 Wyclif 1 Cor. xi. 1 Be ȝe my foleweris, as Y am of Crist. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 169/2 Folware, yn manerys, or condycions, imitator. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 894 Arte is folower of nature. 1611 Bible 1 Pet. iii. 13 If ye bee followers of that which is good. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §11 Aristotle and his followers. 1781 Burke Corr. (1844) II. 437 We, who ought to have taken the lead in so noble a work, are but ill followers even of the examples which are set to us. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 13 It soon became clear that Halifax would have many followers. 1891 Speaker 2 May 526/2 To vindicate Horace Walpole from the aspersions of Macaulay and his followers. |
c. colloq. A man who courts a maidservant; esp. one who calls at the house to see her.
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xvi, Five servants kept. No man. No followers. 1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xlv. 202 She granted [the servants]..every indulgence..in having their followers. |
† 3. Sc. A prosecutor (at law). Cf. follow v. 5 c.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28416 (Cott.) Wittnes foluar. 1449 Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) II. 37 He salbe condampnit be the Juge in the expensis of the folowar. |
4. Sc. and north. dial. The young of cattle.
| 1584 Wills & Inv. (Surtees 1860) II. 105 The beste cowe I haue..with her follower. c 1686 Depredations on Clan Campbell (1816) 61, 1 bull, 2 mares and followers. 1829 Scott Doom Devorgoil i. i, Three cows, with each her follower. 1885 Times (weekly ed.) 16 Oct. 2/3 The crofter paying {pstlg}10 should be able to keep four cows with their followers. |
5. Mech. a. In various kinds of presses: The plate or block by which the pressure is applied.
| 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 117 The lower end of the Toothed Bar must be fixed into a Follower of Wood. 1860 All Year Round No. 51. 19 A proper ‘vat’ and ‘follower’ made of solid mahogany [for making cheese]. 1882 Southward Pract. Printing 587 The piece [in a screw press] answering to the platen of a printing press is called the ‘follower’. |
b. In a pile-driving machine: A ‘dolly’ or block of timber placed between the ram and the head of the pile. Also, formerly, † the movable block and ‘tongs’ by which the ram is lifted and let fall.
| 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 36 Fig. 2 is the Follower playing in its Grooves..Fig. 3..the Follower and Ram, seemingly just ready to engage one another. 1868 Min. Proc. Inst. Civ. Engineers XXVII. 277 The piles..had to be driven with a follower, which was made of very tough oak, and well banded at both ends. |
c. In wheel-work: (see quot. 1805).
| 1805 Brewster in Ferguson's Lect. I. 82 note, In a combination of wheels that which is acted upon by the power..is called a leader; and the other wheel on the same axis is called a follower. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 291 Lantern pinions work very smoothly as followers though they are unsuitable as drivers. |
d. (See quot.)
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Follower (Steam-engine), the cover or plug of a stuffing-box, which rests upon and compresses the packing; a gland. |
6. Stationery. (See quots.)
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Follower..a sheet of parchment, which is added to the first or indenture, etc. sheet. 1888 Jacobi Printer's Voc., Followers, the following sheets after a heading—such as the ordinary plain-ruled paper used after the title-head of a long invoice. |