# after

Pronunciation: US say "AF-tur" /ˈæftəɹ/; UK say "AHF-tuh" /ˈɑːftə/

## Preposition

1. Later than or following in time, often implying that the earlier event caused, affects, or contrasts with the later one.
   - Simple: Later than something, often because of it or in spite of it.
   - _Call me after six._
   - _She fell ill the day after the wedding._
4. In pursuit of, seeking ('he's after a job', 'run after him', 'inquire after her health').
   - Simple: Trying to get or catch, as in 'after a job'.
   - _The dog ran after the ball._
   - _What are you after, exactly?_
5. In allusion to, in imitation of, or following the model of.
   - Simple: Named for, or copied from, as in 'named after his grandfather'.
   - _Their new house was modeled after an old farmhouse they had seen in Vermont._
   - _The street was named after a nurse who had cared for the town for forty years._
6. Used to show that something follows another thing, directly or further along, in a list, series, or written order.
   - Simple: Used to show that something comes next, or later, in a list, a row of things, or a piece of writing.
   - _The chapter on taxes comes after the one on budgeting._
   - _In the phone book, Johnson is listed after Jackson._
7. Used to show that something lies beyond a given place, farther on along the same road or route.
   - Simple: Used to say that a place is past another place, farther along a road or path.
   - _The rest stop is about five miles after the bridge._
   - _Get off the train at the stop after Central Station._
8. Used between two instances of the same noun to show repetition seemingly without end.
   - Simple: Again and again, in phrases like 'day after day'.
   - _Wave after wave hit the sea wall._
   - _She answered question after question._
9. Subsequently to someone's actions, so as to remedy them, mostly with verbs of cleaning and tidying ('picking up after you').
   - Simple: Putting right the mess someone else has made, as in 'clean up after you'.
   - _Somebody has to clean up after the party guests._
   - _The nurse was forever clearing up after the doctor._
10. Below, usually next below, in importance or rank.
   - Simple: Next below in order or rank, as in 'second after the king'.
   - _In the US Army, a colonel ranks directly after a brigadier general._
   - _Chess is her favorite game after tennis._
11. Used to mark the object of attention or concern.
   - Simple: About, or concerned with, as in 'look after' or 'ask after'.
   - _He was hired to look after the horses._
   - _While we're away, our neighbor has agreed to look after the garden and water the tomatoes._
13. Behind, in the space someone has left.
   - Simple: Behind, as in 'shut the door after you'.
   - _He hurried out of the office, letting the door slam after him._
   - _Close the gate after the last car._
15. With be and an -ing form, used to mark an action as just completed. *(dialectal, Ireland, Newfoundland)*
   - Simple: In Irish English, 'have just', as in 'I'm after eating'.
   - _He's after breaking the window, the eejit._
   - _We were after leaving when the rain started._

## Conjunction

2. Used to introduce an event that happens before the one in the main clause.
   - Simple: Once something has happened, as in 'after we ate'.
   - _Lock the door after you leave._
   - _After the rain stopped, the birds began to sing._

## Adverb

3. Behind or later in time; following.
   - Simple: Later, or behind, with the thing left unsaid, as in 'the month after'.
   - _The band marched down the street, with a crowd of kids trailing after._
   - _We moved into the house in June, and our first child was born the year after._

## Noun

12. The picture in a comparison pair that shows the result of a treatment.
   - Simple: The 'after' picture in a before-and-after pair.
   - _The dentist keeps a wall of befores and afters._
   - _Every makeover story ends with the after._

## Adjective

14. Later, subsequent or second of two, used before a noun. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Later, or coming next, as in 'in after years'.
   - _In after life he came to regret the quarrel._
   - _His after years were spent quietly in the country._

## Preposition

16. According to, as stated by, or in keeping with a source, standard or measure. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: According to what a writer or rule says, or in a way that matches something.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of a ship or aircraft, at or toward the stern or rear.

## Origin

From Middle English "after," from Old English "æfter," tracing back through Proto-Germanic to Proto-Indo-European "*h₂epoteros" ("further behind, further away"). It is related to Dutch "achter," German "after-," Swedish and Danish "efter," and Icelandic "eftir." The Irish use to mark a recently completed action is a calque of the phrase "Táim tar éis..." (literally "I am after...").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/after (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).