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

Examples of take care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hog jowl can be salty, so take care to taste and season your dishes accordingly. —Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 26 Dec. 2025

Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. —Ryley Amond, CNBC, 26 Dec. 2025

Judith Gonzalez had a young family to take care of and didn’t know where to go. —Kate Talerico, Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2025

That lack of success on the ground made everything else extremely challenging for the offense, and can’t happen again if the Lions want to take care of business today. —Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 25 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for take care

• aftercare
• anywhere
• billionaire
• chinaware
• debonair
• dinnerware
• disrepair
• doctrinaire
• earthenware
• everywhere
• frigidaire
• kitchenware