[OE. folȝere, f. as prec. + -ER1.]
1. One who follows (in the literal sense).
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 173.
| No Stop, no Stay, but 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 be it in ryme or measured verse, 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. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., I. iv. 22.
| Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue; | |
| And I am faint, and cannot fly their fury. |
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus’ Ann., III. x. (1622), 105. Stealing by dangerous bie-waies; [he] beguiled his followers; though not long.
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 folȝerum.
c. 1000. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 189/30. Assecla, folȝere.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. V. 549. I haue ben his folwar · al þas 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. 1038.
| And forc’d Æneas, when his Ships were lost, | |
| To leave his Foll’wers on a Foreign Coast. |
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, viii. He [the captain] stood composed in all his dignity, and eyed his follower over.
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 275. He [the Provost-Marshal] is to take cognizance of the conduct of all Followers and Retainers of the Camp, as well as of the Soldiers of the Army.
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. Dewes, 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. That antiquated and so much ridiculed Notion of Materia prima, to be met with in Aristotle and his Followers.
1781. Burke, Corr. (1844), II. 437. I am sorry to find that 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, III. 2 May, 526/2. The first serious attempt which has been made 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. But though Mrs. Margerum kept the servants well up to their tea and sugar allowances, she granted them every indulgence in the way of gadding about, and also in having their followers, provided the followers didn’t eat, by which means she kept the house quiet, and made her reign happy and prosperous.
† 3. Sc. A prosecutor (at law). Cf. FOLLOW v. 5 c.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28416 (Cott.). Wittnes foluar wit fals iustise.
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 of Devorgoil, I. i.
| The crofts of Mucklewhame, old man, which nourish | |
| Three scores of sheep, three cows, with each her follower. |
1885. Times (weekly ed.), 16 Oct., 2/3. The crofter paying £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. Hollingshead, in All Year Round, No. 51, 14 April, 19/2. The next step taken was to get 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, A Treatise on Building in Water, 36. Fig. 2. is the Follower playing in its Grooves by a Scale of 1 Inch = 1 Foot. Fig. 3. (by the same Scale) shews the Section of the Follower and Ram, seemingly just ready to engage one another.
1868. Min. Proc. Inst. Civ. Engineers, XXVII. 277. A few of the piles, under peculiar circumstances, 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, or by some other wheel, is called a leader; and the other wheel on the same axis is called a follower.
1884. F. J. Britten, The Watch and Clockmakers’ Handbook, 291. Lantern pinions work very smoothly as followers, though they are unsuitable as drivers.
d. (See quot.)
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 900/1. 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 law-stationer’s name for a a sheet of parchment, which is added to the first, or indenture, &c. sheet.
1888. Jacobi, Printer’s Vocab., Followers.—The following sheets after a heading—such as the ordinary plain-ruled paper used after the title-head of a long invoice.
