Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

aft /ɑː ft, æ ft/ ADV [ADV after v, be ADV ] If you go aft in a boat or plane, you go to the back of it. If you are aft , you are in the back.

af|ter ◆◆◆ /ɑː ftə ^r , æ ftə ^r / 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 a taxi. □  It wasn't until after Christmas that I met Paul. ● CONJ After is also a conjunction. □  Marina cared for him after he seriously injured his eye several years ago.

2 PREP [PREP v-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.

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 ]

13after 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.