fol·low-up
ˈfä-lō-ˌəp 
1
a
: the act or an instance of following up
b
: something that follows up
2
: maintenance of contact with or reexamination of a person (such as a patient) especially following treatment
The surgeon scheduled a follow-up with his patient a week after the surgery.
3
: a news story presenting new information on a story published earlier
A few days after the story broke, the newspaper printed a follow-up.
1
: of, relating to, or being something that follows up
follow-up action by the police—
Frank Faulkner
Frank Faulknerhad a few follow-up questions after the interview
2
: done, conducted, or administered in the course of following up persons
follow-up care for discharged hospital patients
followed up; following up; follows up
1
: to follow with something similar, related, or supplementary
following up his convictions with action—G. P. Merrill
G. P. MerrillShe followed up her first novel with a second one.
2
: to maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments
All patients were followed up clinically for four months.
3
: to pursue in an effort to take further action
the police are following up leads
: to take appropriate action
follow up on complaints
Examples of follow-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebAl Shipley, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2024
By Thursday morning, only seven jurors had made it through the questionnaire, in addition to several rounds of follow-up questions from the prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys, and had been sworn in as members of the official jury.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2024
Her adoption fee includes her spay surgery, current vaccinations, a microchip, and a follow-up wellness exam with a VCA Animal Hospital.
—The Arizona Republic, 19 Apr. 2024
The Jinx — Part Two premiere The team behind the follow-up to The Jinx debuted part two in New York on Thursday, with support from guests including Michael J. Fox, Molly Shannon and Debra Messing.
—Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Apr. 2024
Many of the survivors participated in follow-up studies for decades.
—Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024
Four of the company’s top 10 investors—including asset manager T. Rowe Price—sought out Denholm to discuss Musk’s pay and sent a follow-up letter in support of the move to reauthorize it.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
Other guests on the follow-up to 2017’s Electric Lines include Hayden Thorpe (formerly of Wild Beasts), Alabaster dePlume, Ibibio Sound Machine’s Eno Williams, Oranje, Jungle’s TomMcFarland, Fiorious, Falle Nioke, and Goddard’s Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 18 Apr. 2024
Given its runaway financial success, the follow-up was granted a much more substantial $200 million price tag.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 10 Apr. 2024
Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2023
In a follow-up statement released around 2 p.m., the agency said the restrictions would remain in place until at least the end of service.
—John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2023
Over an average follow-up time of 28 years, 8.9% of elite soccer athletes and 6.2% of controls were diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease.
—Judy George | Medpage Today, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2023
People who send before and after images of their cleaning were promised (in a later follow-up Tweet) to have the chance to win $5,000.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2023
After the train derailment, WKBN-27 aired a follow-up broadcast addressing online conspiracy theories about the MyID.
—Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2023
Philips was a pioneer of the medium, so much so that Time magazine had splashed her on its cover in 1957, when some 10 million people were tuning in every weekday to watch her follow-up show, As the World Turns.
—Shinan Govani, Town & Country, 22 Feb. 2023
Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
The constable’s office alleged Williams returned home on the night of April 10 and was arrested the following day when officers returned to the apartment to follow up on the child welfare call.
—Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024
The team followed up with participants for about four years.
—Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 12 Apr. 2024
Her gynecologist ordered it to follow up on a previous scan from several years prior, which revealed that Viehmann had osteopenia, a condition preceding osteoporosis.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 10 Apr. 2024
Researchers followed up eight months later and found that the group with glasses had experienced a significant bump in income, receiving an average monthly income of $47.10, compared to $35.30 for the participants who did not have glasses.
—Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
She was discharged the next day and was told to follow up in four days, the complaint states.
—Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
The sheriff's office also followed up in another post, asking people to stop calling 911 for updates on Nenigar.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024
The researchers followed up with participants for about three years to monitor their health status.
—Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
Rubberneck was a surprise platinum seller, but Toadies were unable to capitalize on the album’s success when Interscope shelved their 1997 follow-up album, Feeler (the project was eventually re-recorded and released in 2010).
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2024
By Thursday morning, only seven jurors had made it through the questionnaire, in addition to several rounds of follow-up questions from the prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys, and had been sworn in as members of the official jury.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2024
Her adoption fee includes her spay surgery, current vaccinations, a microchip, and a follow-up wellness exam with a VCA Animal Hospital.
—The Arizona Republic, 19 Apr. 2024
The Jinx — Part Two premiere The team behind the follow-up to The Jinx debuted part two in New York on Thursday, with support from guests including Michael J. Fox, Molly Shannon and Debra Messing.
—Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Apr. 2024
Many of the survivors participated in follow-up studies for decades.
—Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024
Four of the company’s top 10 investors—including asset manager T. Rowe Price—sought out Denholm to discuss Musk’s pay and sent a follow-up letter in support of the move to reauthorize it.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
Other guests on the follow-up to 2017’s Electric Lines include Hayden Thorpe (formerly of Wild Beasts), Alabaster dePlume, Ibibio Sound Machine’s Eno Williams, Oranje, Jungle’s TomMcFarland, Fiorious, Falle Nioke, and Goddard’s Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 18 Apr. 2024
Given its runaway financial success, the follow-up was granted a much more substantial $200 million price tag.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 10 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The user can also tell Bing to alter the image with follow-up requests, as Microsoft’s demo shows.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2023
In a follow-up statement released around 2 p.m., the agency said the restrictions would remain in place until at least the end of service.
—John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2023
Over an average follow-up time of 28 years, 8.9% of elite soccer athletes and 6.2% of controls were diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease.
—Judy George | Medpage Today, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2023
People who send before and after images of their cleaning were promised (in a later follow-up Tweet) to have the chance to win $5,000.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2023
After the train derailment, WKBN-27 aired a follow-up broadcast addressing online conspiracy theories about the MyID.
—Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2023
Philips was a pioneer of the medium, so much so that Time magazine had splashed her on its cover in 1957, when some 10 million people were tuning in every weekday to watch her follow-up show, As the World Turns.
—Shinan Govani, Town & Country, 22 Feb. 2023
Verb
Mering followed up Titanic Rising in 2022 with the excellent And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow.
—Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
The constable’s office alleged Williams returned home on the night of April 10 and was arrested the following day when officers returned to the apartment to follow up on the child welfare call.
—Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024
The team followed up with participants for about four years.
—Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 12 Apr. 2024
Her gynecologist ordered it to follow up on a previous scan from several years prior, which revealed that Viehmann had osteopenia, a condition preceding osteoporosis.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 10 Apr. 2024
Researchers followed up eight months later and found that the group with glasses had experienced a significant bump in income, receiving an average monthly income of $47.10, compared to $35.30 for the participants who did not have glasses.
—Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
She was discharged the next day and was told to follow up in four days, the complaint states.
—Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
The sheriff's office also followed up in another post, asking people to stop calling 911 for updates on Nenigar.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024
The researchers followed up with participants for about three years to monitor their health status.
—Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'follow-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near follow-up
Cite this Entry
“Follow-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/follow-up. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
follow-up
1 of 2 noun
fol·low-up
ˈfäl-ə-ˌwəp, ˌfäl-
: maintenance of contact with a patient at one or more designated intervals following diagnosis or treatment especially to examine again or monitor the progress of therapy
also
: an instance of such contact
At three-month and six-month follow-ups, he had only mild, residual facial swelling on the lower left side. —Meredith August et al., The New England Journal of Medicine
Meredith August et al., The New England Journal of Medicine
follow-up
adjective
a follow-up visit
follow-up care
When ovarian cancer is found, better follow-up procedures and more aggressive chemotherapy are prolonging remissions, even in women with advanced disease.
—Mayo Clinic Health Letter
Mayo Clinic Health Letter
follow up
2 of 2 transitive verb
: to maintain contact with (a patient) at one or more designated intervals following diagnosis or treatment especially to examine again or monitor the progress of therapy
patients who are followed up after their discharge
She was discharged on postoperative day 4 and was followed up in the surgery clinic 19 days postoperatively.—Steven L. Bloom et al., The New England Journal of Medicine
Steven L. Bloom et al., The New England Journal of MedicineLove words? Need even more definitions?
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