"follow the wind" meaning in English

See follow the wind in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: follows the wind [present, singular, third-person], following the wind [participle, present], followed the wind [participle, past], followed the wind [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} follow the wind (third-person singular simple present follows the wind, present participle following the wind, simple past and past participle followed the wind)
  1. To choose what one does based on current circumstances rather than sticking to a plan or fixed set of principles.
    Sense id: en-follow_the_wind-en-verb-NGT0Zneb Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 82 18
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see follow, wind. Related terms: fly by the seat of one's pants, which way the wind is blowing
    Sense id: en-follow_the_wind-en-verb-EzOWUs5y

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for follow the wind meaning in English (2.9kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "follows the wind",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "following the wind",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "followed the wind",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "followed the wind",
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      "expansion": "follow the wind (third-person singular simple present follows the wind, present participle following the wind, simple past and past participle followed the wind)",
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          "_dis": "82 18",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, Steven Englund, Napoleon: A Political Life, page 52",
          "text": "Lucien wrote to Joseph: in a Revolution, it is essential to hew to a line, not \"follow the wind\" or \"suddenly change sides.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Steven M. Studebaker, Pentecostalism and Globalization",
          "text": "For inherent in our legacy is a commitment to Follow the Wind, scanning the horizons, reading the signs of the times, listening to the voice of the Spirit even as we continue to be nourished deeply by the Word.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Zurn, Memoirs of a Bipolar Soul, page 35",
          "text": "So, to put the ritual in motion, let's suppose Bob wanted to follow the wind on any given day to create a “secret communication” that God and others would understand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 December 27, Patrick Radden Keefe, “How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success”, in The New Yorker",
          "text": "“I’ve never known Mark to be religious,” Gold observed. But she noted that “people close to him have said, ‘He follows the wind.’ ”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "To choose what one does based on current circumstances rather than sticking to a plan or fixed set of principles."
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      "id": "en-follow_the_wind-en-verb-NGT0Zneb",
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      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Yvonne Herman, The Arctic Seas: Climatology, Oceanography, Geology, and Biology",
          "text": "Thus, short-term fluctuations in ice drift will tend to follow the wind, while longer-term variations can be more strongly affected by ice interaction.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see follow, wind."
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      "id": "en-follow_the_wind-en-verb-EzOWUs5y",
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          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
        },
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          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "which way the wind is blowing"
        }
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  "word": "follow the wind"
}
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    {
      "form": "followed the wind",
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      "form": "followed the wind",
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  "related": [
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      "word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
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    {
      "word": "which way the wind is blowing"
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  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, Steven Englund, Napoleon: A Political Life, page 52",
          "text": "Lucien wrote to Joseph: in a Revolution, it is essential to hew to a line, not \"follow the wind\" or \"suddenly change sides.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Steven M. Studebaker, Pentecostalism and Globalization",
          "text": "For inherent in our legacy is a commitment to Follow the Wind, scanning the horizons, reading the signs of the times, listening to the voice of the Spirit even as we continue to be nourished deeply by the Word.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Zurn, Memoirs of a Bipolar Soul, page 35",
          "text": "So, to put the ritual in motion, let's suppose Bob wanted to follow the wind on any given day to create a “secret communication” that God and others would understand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 December 27, Patrick Radden Keefe, “How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success”, in The New Yorker",
          "text": "“I’ve never known Mark to be religious,” Gold observed. But she noted that “people close to him have said, ‘He follows the wind.’ ”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To choose what one does based on current circumstances rather than sticking to a plan or fixed set of principles."
      ],
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        [
          "sticking to",
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          "text": "Thus, short-term fluctuations in ice drift will tend to follow the wind, while longer-term variations can be more strongly affected by ice interaction.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see follow, wind."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "follow",
          "follow#English"
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        [
          "wind",
          "wind#English"
        ]
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  ],
  "word": "follow the wind"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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