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

The benefits important to older team members who may need to take care of an elderly parent or support a child through college are different from those who may have a newborn or no children. —Shannon Gabriel, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024

Abby ultimately decided to take care of the problem herself by crushing up pills and putting them in Merritt’s glass of juice. —Sophie Hanson, StyleCaster, 10 Sep. 2024

Vietnamese leaders typically take care to establish a rapport with China to maintain continuity and stability in the bilateral relationship. —Huong Le Thu, Foreign Affairs, 9 Sep. 2024

With Santa Ana Stadium mostly filled, the Monarchs (2-0) took care of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 31-15 in a matchup of teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 nationally by several organizations. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 2