sb. [AFTER- 1.]
† 1. As sb. A space of time after dinner devoted to recreation; the remainder of the day after dinner, the afternoon. Obs.
1576. Sandford (title), Houres of recreation or Afterdinners.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., II. iii. 121. An after Dinners breath.
a. 1618. Raleigh, Brev. Hist. Eng. (1693), 53–4. Upon an After-dinner, Henry wan so much at Chess of Louis the King’s eldest Son, that he grew so far into Choler, as he called him the Son of a Bastard, and threw the Chess in his Face.
2. attrib. Taking place after, or following dinner; esp. before leaving the table at a festivity.
1730. Swift, Panegyrick on the Dean, IV. I. 142. Taking her after-dinner nap.
1790. Burke, Fr. Revol., 44. The sermons of the Old Jewry and the after-dinner toasts of the Revolution Society.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, V. xiii. 238. An after-dinner anecdote, which ought to be as piquant as an anchovy toast.
1840. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), V. 262. He whips himself up into a drowsy after-dinner oration once in a year or may be in two.
1875. Helps, Soc. Press., xviii. 246. The favourable after-dinner moment, when most men are most ready to promise that they will give liberally.
