3 PREP You use after when you are talking about time. For example, if something is going to happen during the day after or the weekend after a particular time, it is going to happen during the following day or during the following weekend. □ She's leaving the day after tomorrow. ● ADV [ADV after v] After is also an adverb. □ Tomorrow. Or the day after.
4 PREP If you go after someone, you follow or chase them. □ He walked out, and Louise went after him. □ …people who were after him for large amounts of money.
5 PREP If you are after something, you are trying to get it. □ They were after the money. □ I did eventually find what I was after.
6 PREP If you call, shout, or stare after someone, you call, shout, or stare at them as they move away from you. □ 'Come back!' he called after me.
7 PREP If you tell someone that one place is a particular distance after another, you mean that it is situated beyond the other place and further away from you. □ A few kilometres after the village, turn right to Montelabate.
8 PREP If one thing is written after another thing on a page, it is written following it or underneath it. □ I wrote my name after Penny's.
9 PREP You use after in order to give the most important aspect of something when comparing it with another aspect. □ After Germany, America is Britain's second-biggest customer.
10 PREP To be named after someone means to be given the same name as them. [BRIT ] □ He persuaded Virginia to name the baby after him. in AM, use for 11 CONVENTION If you say ' after you ' to someone, you are being polite and allowing them to go in front of you or through a doorway before you do. [POLITENESS ]
12 PREP After is used when telling the time. If it is, for example, ten after six , the time is ten minutes past six. [AM ]
13 after all → see all
14 PHRASE If you do something to several things one after the other or one after another , you do it to one, then the next, and so on, with no break between your actions. □ Sybil ate three biscuits, one after the other.
15 PHRASE If something happens day after day or year after year , it happens every day or every year, for a long time. □ …people who'd been coming here year after year.
after- /ɑː ftə r -, æ ftə r -/ COMB [ADJ n] After- is added to nouns to form adjectives which indicate that something takes place or exists after an event or process. □ …an after-dinner speech. □ After-tax profit fell by 28 percent.
after|care /ɑː ftə r keə r , æ f-/ in BRIT, also use after-care N‑UNCOUNT Aftercare is the nursing and care of people who have been treated in hospital, and who are now recovering. □ As part of the treatment, he attended 15 weeks of after-care.
a fter-effect (after-effects ) in AM, use aftereffect N‑COUNT [usu pl] The after-effects of an event, experience, or substance are the conditions which result from it. □ [+ of ] …people still suffering from the after-effects of the accident.
after|glow /ɑː ftə r gloʊ, æ f-/
1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft with poss] The afterglow is the glow that remains after a light has gone, for example after the sun has gone down. [LITERARY ] □ …the light of the sunset's afterglow.
2 N‑UNCOUNT You can refer to the good feeling or effects that remain after an event as the afterglow . □ [+ of ] …basking in the afterglow of their Champions League victory.
a fter-hou rs ADJ [ADJ n] You use after-hours to describe activities which happen after the end of the usual time for them. □ The school offers after-hours childcare.
after|life /ɑː ftə r la I f, æ f-/ (afterlives ) also after-life N‑COUNT [usu sing] The afterlife is a life that some people believe begins when you die, for example a life in heaven or as another person or animal.
after|market /ɑː ftə r mɑː r k I t, æ f-/
1 N‑SING The aftermarket is all the related products that are sold after an item, especially a car, has been bought. [BUSINESS ]
2 N‑SING The aftermarket in shares and bonds is the buying and selling of them after they have been issued. [BUSINESS ]
after|math /ɑː ftə r mɑːθ, æ ftə r mæθ/ N‑SING The aftermath of an important event, especially a harmful one, is the situation that results from it. □ [+ of ] In the aftermath of the coup, the troops opened fire on the demonstrators.
after|noon ◆◆◇ /ɑː ftə r nuː n, æ f-/ (afternoons ) N‑VAR The afternoon is the part of each day which begins at lunchtime and ends at about six o'clock. □ He's arriving in the afternoon. □ He had stayed in his room all afternoon. □ …an afternoon news conference.
a fter|noon tea (afternoon teas ) N‑VAR Afternoon tea is a small meal you can have in the afternoon. It includes a cup of tea and food such as sandwiches and cakes. [BRIT ]
after|party /ɑː ftə r pɑː r t I , æ f-/ (afterparties ) N‑COUNT An afterparty is a small party held after a larger event, to which only a small group of guests is invited. □ He met her at a fashion-show afterparty.
a fter-sales se r|vice (after-sales services ) N‑VAR A company's after-sales service is all the help and information that it provides to customers after they have bought a particular product. [BUSINESS ] □ …a local retailer who offers a good after-sales service. □ They attempt to keep the car buyer as a long-term customer by offering after-sales service.