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

Instead of letting papers take up residence on your kitchen counters, Stewart says to take care of them immediately. —Tessa Cooper, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2025

Women worked in the home and yard, taking care of children, animals and vegetable gardens, along with the spinning, sewing and cooking. —Bobbi Sutherland, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025

Swope was always watching out for his colleagues and making sure they were taken care of, the Lewisville Fire Fighters Association said on Facebook. —Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Dec. 2025

Millions of parents in the United States, native- and foreign-born alike, rely on immigrants to take care of their kids. —Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 19 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