Piers Plowman (B)

549. Else the lady's mad: yet, if 'twere so, She could not sway her house, command her followers ,... With such a smooth, discreet, and stable bearing. Shak ., T. N., iv. 3. My lord, cheer up your spirits; our foes are nigh, And this soft courage makes your followers faint. Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 2. (b) One who follows a master or teacher as a disciple or adherent; one who takes another as his guide in doctrines, opinion, or example, or an adherent of a particular doctrine or system. So that they all three do plead God's omnipotency,.. the followers of consubstantiation to the kneading up of both substances as it were into one lump. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 67. (c) One who follows in practice the conduct, course, or example of another; one who conforms his conduct or course to that of some person or thing regarded as a model or pattern; an imitator: as, Terence was a follower of Menander. Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Heb. vi. 12. (d) A man who "keeps company" with a young woman; especially, one who is in the habit of calling upon a maidservant to pay his addre es; a beau. [Colloq.] Five ser Dickens, Nicholas Nickle by, xv. Mrs. Marker... offers eighteen guineas. vants kept. No man. No followers. 2. In mach., any part of a machine moving in IMG:content-1604.png:[blocks in formation] 4. A costly structure or other undertaking left unfinished for want of means, too expensive to be properly maintained, built in a very ill chosen place, or the like; an enterprise that exhausts or ruins the projector. They saw an object amidst the woods on the edge of the hill, which upon enquiry they were told was called Shenstone's folly . Graves, Spiritual Quixote, ix. 7. We know indeed how this scorn will embody itself in a name given to the unfinished structure. It is called this or that man's folly; and the name of the foolish builder is thus kept alive for long after-years. Abp. Trench, Westminster Abbey Sermons, p. 130. =Syn. 1. Nonsense, foolishne , sensele ne , ridiculousne , extravagance, indiscretion, imbecility. See list under absurdity. IMG:content-1605.png:[blocks in formation] 3. To encourage; abet; instigate or promote by incitement: commonly used in a bad sense: as, to foment discord. The Swedes bear up still, being fomented and supported by the French. Howell, Letters, I. vi. 8. Proud Egypt would di embled friendship bring; Foment the war, but not support the king. astrolabe. Dryden, Abs, and Achit., i. 284. The spirit of maritime enterprise was fomented , and greatly facilitated in its operation, by the invention of the Pre scott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 16. fomentation (fo-men-tā'shon), n. [= F. fo mentation = Pr. foment a cio = Sp. foment a cion = Pg . foment ação = It. foment azione , fo mentatio ( n- ), foment are , foment: see foment .] 1. The act of heating, warming, or cherishing; warmth. The temper'd heat, Friendly to vital motion, may afford Soft fomentation , and invite the seed. Cowper, Task, iii. 510. 2. In med.: ( a ) The act of applying warm liquids to a part of the body, by means of flannels or other cloths dipped in them. (b) The liquid thus applied. Fomentations properly be devises for to be applied unto any affected part, either to comfort and to cherish it, or to allay the paine, or else to open the pores to make way for ointments and plastres. Holland , tr. of Pliny, Explanation of Words of Art. motion of another part.-3. In a steam-engine, the cover of a piston or of a stuffing-box. follower-plate (fol'ō-er-plāt), n. In mach., a plate serving as a follower. following (fol'ō-ing), n. [Verbal n. of follow, v.] 1. A body of followers, retainers, attendants, or supporters; the adherents, disciples, or imitators of a particular leader or system, considered collectively; the persons composing a sect or party that follows the lead of a chief, or is lying. [ follyt, a. * foolly ), Let me shun Such follying before thee. Keats , Endymion, i. [ME., also folliche , foly (mod. as if fol , fool, + -ly , -liche , E.-ly1.] Foolish. Than bring they to her remembraunce The foly dedes of her enfaunce. Rom. of the Rose , 1. 5006. Job synnede not with his lippis, none any foly thing agen God spac. Wyclif , Job i. 22 (Oxf.). or system of teaching or action. While burghers, with important face, Described each new-come lord, Discu ed his lineage, told his name, His following , and his feudal fame. The Queen Tennyson, Queen Mary, 1. Scott , Marmion, v. 6. took her hand, call'd her sweet sister, and ki 'd not her alone, but all the ladies of her following . With a small following of servants, he reached Naples. C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, vi. 2. What one follows as an occupation or trade; vocation; calling; occupation. [Rare.] In every age men in general attend more to their own immediate pursuits and followings than to the... claims of discontented factions. S. Turner, Hist. Eng. during Middle Ages, vii. 5. following (fol'ō-ing), p . a . [Ppr. of follow , v .] 1. Immediately succeeding; coming next in order; ensuing: as, during the following week. And euery ffre sower shall paye, euery yere vij. yere vol . wyng, to the ffyndyng of a prest, iiij. d. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 324. The Mondaye folowynge , that was the daye of Viti and Modesti, and the.xvj. day of June. Sir R. Guylforde , Pylgrymage, p. 7. 2. That is now to follow; now to be related, set forth, described, or explained: as, the fol lowing story I can vouch for; in the following order. My friend answered what I said in the following man Steele, Spectator, No. 152. ner. followinglyt (fol'ō-ing-li), adv. In what follows; immediately; next. So that we come to him the way that he hath appointed; which way is Jesus Christ only, we shall see followingly . Tyndale , Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., 1850), [p. 274.