after all
Idioms-
Despite everything, nevertheless, as in The plane took off half an hour late but landed on time after all .
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After everything else has been considered, ultimately, as in Mary has final approval of the guest list; after all, it's her wedding . The two usages are pronounced differently, the first giving stress to the word after and the second to the word all . Both date from the early 1700s. Also see when all is said and done .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Discovery looks like it may have a cliff-hanger ending after all.
From MarketWatch
"It is astonishing that we are being asked to close after all of this. Along with Hamleys and Liberty, we are the oldest tenants on Regent Street."
From BBC
For theme parks, after all, can jump the shark, so to speak.
From Los Angeles Times
He wonders whether it might be best for optics if the disgraced financier — the biggest financial backer to Brockman’s nonprofit Edge Foundation — didn’t attend after all.
From Salon
"This is Mexico after all - usually there'd be music, people outside, people enjoying life, and there's a really, kind of eerie, feeling in the air here," he added.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
