take care

idiomatic phrase

1

: to be careful or watchful : to exercise caution or prudence

Because fish is more delicate than beef, take care when pounding it thin.

—Sam Gugino

Patients also should take care in storing their drugs because heat exposure could affect their efficacy, [Aaron] Bernstein says.

—Marlene Cimons

—often used informally to express good wishes when parting, at the end of a message, etc.

I'll see you next week. Take care!

2

: to give particular attention to doing or not doing something

When he had finished writing, Cluny pushed the parchment under his pillow, taking care to leave just a small corner of it jutting out.

—Brian Jacques

In this land of ritual, Westerners should take care to inform themselves of protocol.

—Jeff Morgan

Open oysters carefully just before they are required, taking care not to spill the liquor in their deep shells.

—Elizabeth Craig

see also take care of

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

But the local administrative center was not designed to take care of that kind of business. —Tom Margenau, Dallas News, 16 May 2023

The defendant didn't wanna have to take care of JJ anymore. —Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 13 May 2023

When the pandemic shut down the economy and schools in 2020, women felt the brunt of the impact with a disproportionate number choosing to leave the workforce to take care of their families. —Shirley Leung, BostonGlobe.com, 9 May 2023

The pui yuet also cares for the mother with massage, body wraps and lessons on how to take care of the new baby. —Mayumi Maruyama, CNN, 7 May 2023

The debate over how to take care of flowers probably began as soon as humans started cutting them and displaying them in vessels — enthusiasts have been encouraging people to stick a pin in each tulip stem or throw an aspirin into their vases for years. —Julia Carmel, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2023

Like, both of us not working and one of us being home to be able to take care of home. —Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 5 May 2023

The plan suggests a focus on both a younger demographic and older empty-nesters who prefer to pay rent and let others take care of the property. —Jim Riccioli, Journal Sentinel, 4 May 2023

The group received basic media training before interviews, but no one explained how to take care of themselves on tour. —Autumn Micketti, SPIN, 4 May 2023

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 2