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follow-on

follow-on

1 9.1
A rule in cricket making a team bat again immediately after a very low first innings score
  • noun
  • /ˈfɒloʊˌɒn/
  • UK
translation icon : seguimiento
  • Had they not funded our first prize, we’d never be doing a follow-on!

Examples

  • As a result of this poor coordination, every time police are deployed alongside the military, or as a follow-on force, the two organizations must work out many practical problems on the ground as events unfold.

    Academic text (2002)
  • For startups trying to raise follow-on funding, they now have more data points of their traction, and so venture investors are more aware of their cost of capital needs being met.

    Blog text (6)
  • Agents and editors alike are going to want your second book to be a natural follow-on to the first, capturing a similar audience and building on the same strengths.

    Academic text (2010)
  • When U.S. officials in Somalia gave formal control to the United Nations on May 4, 1993, they had already determined the nature of the follow-on operation.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Angels simply cannot count on even their better-performing seed-stage bets attracting follow-on venture capital, as is the traditional path.

    Blog text (19)
  • It completed the Uruguay Round in 1993, subsequently concluded its three follow-on sectoral compacts, and won congressional approval for both the round and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

    Academic text (2002)
  • The team was forced to play a follow-on after their poor performance in the first innings.

  • In cricket, a follow-on occurs when the losing team must bat again immediately.

  • After trailing by more than 100 runs, the captain announced the follow-on for the opposing team.

Surface Forms

follow-on singular
follow-ons plural

Morphology

follow-on = follow + on (semi-transparent) = follow + on

The compound clearly derives from 'follow' + 'on', but the cricket-specific meaning (a forced second innings) is a specialized technical sense not fully predictable from the parts by a general learner.

Etymology

Follow-on comes from the parts follow and on, which together mean 'to come next', so in cricket a follow-on is when a team must 'bat again' straight away for a second innings because it is far behind.