after all

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after all

1. (idiomatic) anyway, in any case; indicates a statement is true regardless of other considerations; used to reinforce or explain a point.

   After all, they never come home for Christmas.

   Of course he won't give you credit. After all, his first and last concern is his company's profit margin.

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 53:

     “What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all.—I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies.”

   • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 705–706:

     After all, it is undeniable that the B.R. standard coach scored highly in comparative trials with other European railway vehicles on the Continent a few years ago, so that B.R. civil engineers must share responsibility for any defects in its behaviour over here.

   • 8 Jan 2020, Felicity Cloake in The Guardian, How to make the perfect gluten-free chocolate brownies – recipe

     I’d prefer to keep things straightforward and stick in the lovely, tasty yolks, too. After all, there’s no such thing as too rich when it comes to brownies.

2. (idiomatic) in the end, however; used in referring to something that was believed to be the case, but is not; or to an outcome that is not what was expected or predicted.

   They won't be coming home for Christmas after all.

   • 1873–1884 (date written), Samuel Butler, chapter XL, in R[ichard] A[lexander] Streatfeild, editor, The Way of All Flesh, London: Grant Richards, published 1903, →OCLC, page 175:

     Then the idea returned to her that, after all, her son might not be innocent in the Ellen matter—and this was so interesting that she felt bound to get as near the truth as she could.

3. Introduces information that supports the preceding statement.

   Of course he's coming to the party. After all, he did promise.

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