take care of

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

take care of (third-person singular simple present takes care of, present participle taking care of, simple past took care of, past participle taken care of)

1. (transitive) To look after, to provide care for.

   My elderly mother needs to be taken care of.

2. (transitive) To deal with, handle.

   Can somebody take care of the customers while I clean this mess?

   • 2023 February 4, Katie Rogers, quoting Joe Biden, “Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a … Chinese Spy Balloon?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     People had time to think up some questions, including reporters who shouted “Are you going to shoot down the balloon?” at President Biden shortly before the dirigible came down. “We’re going to take care of it,” the president told reporters in Syracuse, N.Y., where he was visiting family.

3. (transitive, slang, euphemistic) To kill.

   In the motion picture ‘The Godfather’, gangster Virgil Sollozzo took care of Luca Brasi by having him strangled.

Synonyms

• (look after): care for, nurse
• (handle): attend to
• (kill (slang)): bump off, knock off, wax

Derived terms

• take care of business
• take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves
• take care of yourself

Translations

look after

• Armenian: խնամել (hy) (xnamel)
• Catalan: tenir cura de, cuidar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 照顧／照顾 (ziu³ gu³)

  Mandarin: 照顧／照顾 (zh) (zhàogù)

• Dutch: zorgen voor
• Esperanto: flegi (eo) (nurse)
• Finnish: huolehtia (fi)
• French: soigner (fr), prendre soin de (fr), s’occuper de (fr)
• Galician: coidar (gl)
• German: sich kümmern um, pflegen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κομίζω (komízō)

• Hebrew: טִפֵּל (tipél)
• Hungarian: gondoskodik (hu), ellát (hu), ápol (hu), gondját viseli
• Irish: tabhair aire do
• Italian: badare (it), prendersi cura, stare dietro
• Ladino: kudiar
• Latin: cūrō (la)
• Ngazidja Comorian: hwangalia
• Polish: dbać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: cuidar (pt)
• Romanian: (eg. ai grijă de tine) ^{(please verify)} a avea grijă de
• Russian: забо́титься (ru) impf (zabótitʹsja), позабо́титься (ru) pf (pozabótitʹsja), присма́тривать (ru) impf (prismátrivatʹ), присмотре́ть (ru) pf (prismotrétʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: brinuti se o, starati se (sh)
• Spanish: cuidar (es)
• Swahili: kutunza
• Swedish: ta hand om (sv)
• Tocharian B: yärp-

deal with

• Finnish: hoitaa (fi)
• French: s’occuper de
• German: sich kümmern um
• Hebrew: טִפֵּל (tipél)
• Hungarian: törődik (hu), foglalkozik (hu), ellát (hu), kiszolgál (hu)
• Italian: ci penso io
• Latin: como
• Norman: souongni dé
• Polish: załatwiać (pl) impf, załatwić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: cuidar (pt)
• Russian: занима́ться (ru) impf (zanimátʹsja), заня́ться (ru) pf (zanjátʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: pobrinuti se za
• Spanish: ocuparse de, encargarse de, cuidar de, tener a su cuidado
• Swedish: ta itu med (sv)

kill

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 搞掂 (gaau² dim⁶)

  Mandarin: 幹掉／干掉 (zh) (gàndiào)

• Finnish: hoidella (fi)
• German: erledigen (de)
• Hungarian: eltesz láb alól
• Latin: occido (la), macto, caedo (la), neco (la)
• Polish: załatwiać (pl) impf, załatwić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: cuidar de
• Russian: разбира́ться (ru) impf (razbirátʹsja), разобра́ться (ru) impf (razobrátʹsja)
• Spanish: encargarse de