take care of

idiomatic phrase

1

: to attend to or provide for the needs, operation, or treatment of (someone or something)

He is home taking care of a sick child.

Each operator can take care of three machines.

The schoolteacher began to feel like a fifth wheel. Her home was taken care of, and her children were taking care of themselves.

—Dorothy West

2

: to deal with or do (something that requires effort or attention)

My assistant takes care of all our travel arrangements.

He offered to take care of [=pay] the bill.

Examples of take care of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So Urbani’s job was to procure those from a hatchery or catch them and then take care of them so they could be released. —Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 8 June 2023

Once that’s done, KFON’s business support centre will contact and take care of the next course of action. —Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 6 June 2023

One of the sections will be about how to take care of Social Security matters. —Tom Margenau, Dallas News, 4 June 2023

As a result, Michaela finds a way to get out of the detention facility to take care of her father, with the help of Jared (J.R. Ramirez). —Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 2 June 2023

On the other hand, blood is also short on vitamin B — and bloodsucking animals have evolved to take care of this, too, by hosting microscopic bacteria inside their bodies to derive vitamin B from instead. —Sofia Quaglia, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2023

His dog was given to an acquaintance, who will take care of the pet while his owner is in jail, the department added. —Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 16 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

They’re shown on a mission to a desert planet, waiting patiently to take care of dangerous stampeding fox-y alien creatures terrorizing the locals. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 6 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1