I. af ‧ ter ‧ noon 1 S1 W2 /ˌɑːftəˈnuːn◂ $ ˌæftər-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
1 . the part of the day after the morning and before the evening ⇨ morning , evening :
There’s a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
It was very hot in the afternoon.
See you tomorrow afternoon.
Are you going into town this afternoon?
We met in the early afternoon.
By late afternoon, Micky had changed his mind.
He was having his afternoon nap.
2 . afternoons during the afternoon every day:
She only works afternoons.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + afternoon
▪ Monday/Friday/Saturday etc afternoon
Did you see the football on Saturday afternoon?
▪ this afternoon (=today in the afternoon)
I'll come round to your house this afternoon.
▪ early/late afternoon
I arrived in Boston in the early afternoon.
▪ all afternoon/the whole afternoon
You left the lights on all afternoon.
■ adverbs
▪ tomorrow afternoon
What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?
▪ yesterday afternoon
I went to see mum yesterday afternoon.
■ AFTERNOON + noun
▪ an afternoon nap (=short sleep)
Dad was having his Sunday afternoon nap.
▪ the afternoon sun
It was too hot to go out in the afternoon sun.
▪ afternoon tea (=a light meal eaten in the afternoon with a cup of tea)
Some people still have afternoon tea at 4 o'clock.
▪ the middle of the afternoon
It was the middle of a long hot summer afternoon.
■ verbs
▪ spend the afternoon somewhere/doing something
We decided to spend the afternoon in town.
II. afternoon 2 BrE AmE interjection British English informal
used to greet someone when you meet them in the afternoon