after

[[t]ɑ͟ːftə(r), æ̱ftə(r)[/t]]

♦

(In addition to the uses shown below, after is used in phrasal verbs such as `ask after', `look after', and `take after'.)

1) PREP If something happens after a particular date or event, it happens during the period of time that follows that date or event.

After 19 May, strikes were occurring on a daily basis...

After breakfast Amy ordered the local taxi to take her to the station...

It wasn't until after Christmas that I met Paul.

Ant:

before

CONJ-SUBORD

After is also a conjunction.

After Don told me this, he spoke of his mother... Marina cared for him after he seriously injured his eye several years ago.

2) PREP: PREP -ing If you do one thing after doing another, you do it during the period of time that follows the other thing.

After completing and signing it, please return the form to us in the envelope provided.

...women who have changed their mind after deciding not to have children...

After flying from Los Angeles to London, allow four full days to adjust.

Ant:

before

3) PREP: n PREP n 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.

...the party's annual conference, to be held the week after next.

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.

Alice said to Gina, `Why don't you go after him, he's your son.'

...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...

Claire stared after him until he disappeared around a corner.

7) PREP If you do something after someone, you do it for them, because they cannot or will not do it for themselves.

She used to mess up the floor and I had to clean up after her.

Syn:

for

8) 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.

Seven kilometres after the sharp bends and before the village of Piccione, turn right to Montelabate.

Syn:

past

Ant:

before

9) 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 at the bottom of the page.

Syn:

following

10) 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...

Methane is often regarded as the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.

11) PREP To be named after someone means to be given the same name as them. [BRIT]

Phillimore Island is named after Sir Robert Phillimore...

He persuaded Virginia to name the baby after him.

(in AM, use for)

12) CONVENTION (politeness) 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.

`After you.' - `Not at all, Mr Bird, after you.'

13) PREP After is used when telling the time. If it is, for example, ten after six, the time is ten minutes past six. [AM]

Syn:

before

14) after all → see all

15) 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 ginger biscuits, one after the other, greedily...

Caroline was trying on one outfit after another.

16) PHRASE If something happens day after day or year after year, it happens every day or every year, for a long time.

I waited for news, day after day, expecting to hear.

...people who'd been coming here year after year.