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Follow vs Maintain - What's the difference?

follow | maintain | Synonyms |

As verbs the difference between follow and maintain

is that follow is to go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction while maintain is to support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.

follow

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction.
  • To go or come after in a sequence.
  • We both ordered the soup, with roast beef to follow .
  • To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.
  • To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).
  • To understand, to pay attention to.
  • To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.
  • To be a logical consequence of.
  • To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.
  • * Shakespeare
  • O, had I but followed the arts!

    Synonyms

    * (go after in a physical space) trail, tail * (in a sequence) succeed * (carry out) pursue * (be a consequence) ensue

    Antonyms

    * (go after in a physical space) guide, lead * (go after in a sequence) precede

    Derived terms

    * followable * follow along * followed by * follower * following * follow in someone's footsteps * follow on * follow out * follow shot * follow suit * follow someone off a cliff * follow the leader/follow-the-leader * follow the queen * follow through * follow-through * follow up * follow-up * hard act to follow * soon to follow * tough act to follow

    See also

    * chase

    Statistics

    *

    maintain

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
  • *:
  • *:And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle / and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man
  • To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).
  • *, chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 5, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= QPR 2-3 Man City , passage=Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Nancy Langston, volume=101, issue=2, page=98
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Mining the Boreal North , passage=Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.}}
  • To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."}}

    Derived terms

    * maintainability

    Antonyms

    * (to keep up) abandon

    Anagrams

    *