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

Grieving Vince, worrying about Bode, and taking care of her Cal Fire family is a lot to balance. —Alamin Yohannes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025

Anthony Banda took care of the eighth, and Roki Sasaki regained his mojo, after a shaky outing in Game 1 in Milwaukee, with a 1-2-3 ninth. —Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 17 Oct. 2025

The team nearly took care of the issue last winter. —Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025

There’s no word yet on whether any of her kids will take care of Reggie, or if he will be set up somewhere else with caretakers. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 17 Oct. 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