Following1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Follow.
2. (n.) One's followers, adherents, or dependents, collectively.
3. (n.) Vocation; business; profession.
4. (a.) Next after; succeeding; ensuing; as, the assembly was held on the following day.
5. (a.) (In the field of a telescope) In the direction from which stars are apparently moving (in consequence of the earth's rotation); as, a small star, north following or south following. In the direction toward which stars appear to move is called preceding.
Thesaurus Entries
adherent, after, afterlife, alike, aped, appendage, appendant, attendance, attendant, audience, behind, below, body of retainers, buff, bugging, cadet, cavaliere servente, chase, clientage, clientele, cloak-and-dagger work, cohort, coming, coming after, consecution, consecutive, consecutiveness, consequent, consequential, consimilar, continuation, continuity, copied, copying, cortege, counterespionage, counterfeit, counterfeiting, counterintelligence, court, courtier, cynegetic, dangler, deducible, dependent, derivable, derivational, derivative, descent, disciple, dogging, electronic surveillance, emulation, ensuing, entourage, ersatz, espial, espionage, extension, fake, fakery, fan, favoring, final, fishing, flunky, follow, follow-up, follower, forgery, future time, halieutic, hanger-on, hangover, henchman, hit-off, homme de cour, homogeneous, hue and cry, hunting, identical, imitated, imitation, impersonation, imposture, impression, in full cry, in hot pursuit, in pursuit, infenible, intelligence, intelligence work, junior, lateness, later, like, line, lineage, lineal, logical sequence, military intelligence, mimesis, mimicked, mirroring, mock, nearly reproduced, next, next life, not unlike, observation, onomatopoeia, order, order of succession, parasite, parody, partisan, phony, piscatorial, piscatory, plagiarism, plagiary, postdate, postdating, posterior, posteriority, postposition, postpositional, postpositive, procession, progression, prolongation, prosecution, provenience, proximate, public, puisne, pursuance, pursuant, pursuer, pursuing, pursuit, pursuivant, quest, questing, remainder, repetition, resembling, resultant, resulting, retinue, rotation, rout, satellite, searching, secret police, secret service, sectary, seeking, sequacious, sequence, sequent, sequential, series, shadow, shadowing, similar, simulated, simulation, since, smacking of, something like, spying, stakeout, stalking, stooge, subjunction, subsequence, subsequent, subsequent to, succeeding, succession, successive, successiveness, successor, suffixation, suffixed, suggestive of, suite, supervenience, supervention, supporter, surveillance, synthetic, tagtail, tail, tailing, takeoff, tracking, tracking down, trailing, train, trainbearer, uniform with, votary, ward heeler, wiretap, wiretapping, younger