after the fact

After an actual occurrence, particularly after a crime. For example, I know the brakes should have been repaired, but that doesn't help much after the fact. The use of fact for a crime dates from the first half of the 1500s. The word became standard in British law and is still used in this way today. The idiom was first recorded in 1769 in the phrase accessories after the fact, referring to persons who assist a lawbreaker after a crime has been committed. Now it is also used more loosely, as in the example above.

Words nearby after the fact

aftershow, aftersound, aftersun, aftertaste, aftertax, after the fact, afterthought, aftertime, aftertreatment, afterward, afterwards

单词	after the fact
释义	after the fact After an actual occurrence, particularly after a crime. For example, I know the brakes should have been repaired, but that doesn't help much after the fact. The use of fact for a crime dates from the first half of the 1500s. The word became standard in British law and is still used in this way today. The idiom was first recorded in 1769 in the phrase accessories after the fact, referring to persons who assist a lawbreaker after a crime has been committed. Now it is also used more loosely, as in the example above. Words nearby after the fact aftershow, aftersound, aftersun, aftertaste, aftertax, after the fact, afterthought, aftertime, aftertreatment, afterward, afterwards The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
随便看	unreadable unready unreal unrealistic unreality unrealizable unrealized unreason unreasonable unreasonable behaviour unreasoning unreckonable unrecognizable unrecognized unreconstructed unreconstructible unrecorded unreel unreeve unrefined unreflected unreflecting unreflective unregenerate unregistered