follow up

verb

followed up; following up; follows up

transitive verb

1

: to follow with something similar, related, or supplementary

She 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

intransitive verb

: to take appropriate action

follow up on complaints

Examples of follow up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, public health workers had to contact and follow up with more than 40 people in Rhode Island tied to one measles case. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 6 June 2026

The singer's husband, Russell Wilson, announced his retirement from the NFL on June 3—and Ciara followed up the announcement with a touching statement of support for him. —Meg Walters, InStyle, 4 June 2026

And this week, Columbia will finally start following up with victims who reached out to either Kroll or Columbia’s IT call center with questions about their data. —Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 4 June 2026

How much stress came in with the idea of following up a breakthrough album? —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for follow up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

follow-up

1 of 2 noun

fol·​low-up

ˈfäl-ə-ˌwəp

1

: the act or an instance of following up

therapy as a follow-up to surgery

2

: something that follows up

follow-up adjective

follow up

2 of 2 verb

ˌfäl-ə-ˈwəp

1

: to follow with something similar, related, or additional

follow up an idea with action

2

: to seek more details about

the police are following up leads

Medical 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

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

follow up

2 of 2 transitive verb

ˌfäl-ə-ˈwəp 

: 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