1To follow; to come next — an intransitive verb meaning to rank or come after something (often used as '〜に次ぐ').
この川は長さで国内で二番目に次ぐ規模だ。
This river is the second-largest in the country in terms of length.
東京に次ぐ大都市として注目されている。
It is attracting attention as the major city following Tokyo.
売上は前年に次いで2位だった。
Sales ranked second following the previous year.