BE AFTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does be after mean? 

• BE AFTER (verb)
  The verb BE AFTER has 1 sense:

1. have the will and intention to carry out some action

  Familiarity information: BE AFTER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BE AFTER (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have the will and intention to carry out some action

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

be after; plan

Context example:

The rebels had planned turmoil and confusion

Hypernyms (to "be after" is one way to...):

intend; mean; think (have in mind as a purpose)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "be after"):

think out (consider carefully and rationally)

aim; aspire; draw a bead on; shoot for (have an ambitious plan or a lofty goal)

go for; hope (intend with some possibility of fulfilment)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

 Context examples 

Eclipses have a way of clarifying thinking, so what you weren’t sure about before the eclipse, you will be after the eclipse.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

My heart stood still within me as it flashed across me that the beast, whatever it was, must surely be after ME.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yes, said he, very true; here we separate, but Harville and I shall soon be after you; that is, Harville, if you are ready, I am in half a minute.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And how tired you must be after your journey!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Sam, stop your confounded pipe, or I shall be after you.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Kathrin Altwegg, the Principal Investigator for Rosina and an author in the new study, got a clue about what this molecule could be after being approached at a conference by an astronomer studying star-forming regions with ALMA: She said that phosphorus monoxide would be a very likely candidate, so I went back to our data and there it was!

(Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks, ESO)