afternoons

[ af-ter-noonz, ahf- ]

/ ˌæf tərˈnunz, ˌɑf- /

adverb

in or during any or every afternoon: He slept late and worked afternoons.

RELATED WORDS

siesta, teatime, P.M.

Nearby words

Origin of afternoons

1895–1900, Americanism; afternoon + -s1

afternoon

[ noun af-ter-noon, ahf-; adjective af-ter-noon, ahf-, af-, ahf- ]

/ noun ˌæf tərˈnun, ˌɑf-; adjective ˈæf tərˈnun, ˈɑf-, ˌæf-, ˌɑf- /

noun

the time from noon until evening.

the latter part: the afternoon of life.

adjective

pertaining to the latter part of the day.

Origin of afternoon

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at after, noon

Related formspre·af·ter·noon, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for afternoons

In the second season she spends afternoons rehearsing for a musical and buying an unlicensed gun for her clone friend.
Why Should You Watch 'Orphan Black'? Tatiana Maslany.|Sujay Kumar|April 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I spend my afternoons reading and exercising or going for walks.
How I Write: Paul Lynch|Noah Charney|December 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He had sex with hustlers in the afternoons, he said, so he could concentrate on conversation with friends in the evening.
How Gay Was Gore Vidal?|Tim Teeman|July 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I could still see those afternoons in the Manchester TV studios when I was a kid with a camera.
Never Before Seen Beatles Photos From 1964|Leslie Woodhead|April 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But in the next instant, all the other timepieces ticked on into the first of the sunny afternoons the boy will never see.
A Boston Child Is Cut Down by an Attacker’s Bomb|Michael Daly|April 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898|Various
He would not go to school in the afternoons, but spent the hours from two till five in drawing.
Saxe Holm's Stories|Helen Hunt Jackson
Ever since they had been at college the three girls had kept their engagement for vespers on Sunday afternoons.
Molly Brown's Senior Days|Nell Speed
There are some gray Sunday afternoons of a depressing effect on the spirit which requires no positive or palpable reason.
Roman Holidays and Others|W. D. Howells
Besides attending to his shop, he was accustomed to go out in the afternoons to dress the hair of four or five ladies.
Jasmin: Barber, Poet, Philanthropist|Samuel Smiles

British Dictionary definitions for afternoons

afternoons

/ (ˌɑːftəˈnuːnz) /

adverb

informal during the afternoon, esp regularly

afternoon

/ (ˌɑːftəˈnuːn) /

noun

the period of the day between noon and evening
(as modifier)afternoon tea

a middle or later partthe afternoon of life

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for afternoons

afternoon

c.1300, from after + noon. In 15c.-16c., the form was at afternoon; from c.1600 it has been in the afternoon. Middle English also had aftermete "afternoon, part of the day following the noon meal," mid-14c.