take care of

1. Attend to, assume responsibility for, as in Go ahead to the movies, I'll take care of parking the car , or They've hired someone to take care of the children for a week . [Late 1500s]

2. Beat up or kill someone, as in If he didn't pay up they threatened to take care of him and his family . [ Slang ; c. 1930]

Example Sentences

They often take care of everything but the farm, managing housework, yardwork and child care.

From Science Daily

When Roosevelt signed the act into law in 1935, he did so not only to help o30 million recipients at the time, but to “take care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness,” Moore said.

From Salon

It was a pervasive shift in left-leaning America’s orientation toward politics—“protest is the new brunch”—and a mass awakening of people who’d suddenly come to the realization that they couldn’t just sit by and allow the arc of the moral universe to take care of itself.

From Slate

Lue wanted his team to take care of the basketball, which they did by turning the ball over just nine times.

From Los Angeles Times

“I get it once a week. Try to be consistent so they don’t get too bad. As a wide receiver, these are my moneymakers so I’ve got to take care of them.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• achieve
• attain
• bring about
• carry out
• conclude
• do
• finish
• manage
• perform
• produce
• pull off
• reach
• realize
• score
• win