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Webster 1913 Edition

Care

Care

(kâr)
,
Noun.
[AS.
caru
,
cearu
; akin to OS.
kara
sorrow, Goth.
kara
, OHG
chara
, lament, and perh. to Gr.
γῆρυσ
voice. Not akin to cure. Cf.
Chary
.]
1.
A burdensome sense of responsibility; trouble caused by onerous duties; anxiety; concern; solicitude.
Care
keeps his watch in every old man’s eye,
And where
care
lodges, sleep will never lie.
Shakespeare
2.
Charge, oversight, or management, implying responsibility for safety and prosperity.
The
care
of all the churches.
2 Cor. xi. 28.
Him thy
care
must be to find.
Milton.
Perplexed with a thousand
cares
.
Shakespeare
3.
Attention or heed; caution; regard; heedfulness; watchfulness;
as, take
care
; have a
care
.
I thank thee for thy
care
and honest pains.
Shakespeare
4.
The object of watchful attention or anxiety.
Syn. – Anxiety; solicitude; concern; caution; regard; management; direction; oversight. –
Care
,
Anxiety
,
Solicitude
,
Concern
. These words express mental pain in different degress. Care belongs primarily to the intellect, and becomes painful from overburdened thought. Anxiety denotes a state of distressing uneasiness fron the dread of evil. Solicitude expresses the same feeling in a diminished degree. Concern is opposed to indifference, and implies exercise of anxious thought more or less intense. We are careful about the means, solicitous and anxious about the end; we are solicitous to obtain a good, anxious to avoid an evil.

Care

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cared
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Caring
.]
[AS.
cearian
. See
Care
,
Noun.
]
To be anxious or solicitous; to be concerned; to have regard or interest; – sometimes followed by an objective of measure.
I would not
care
a pin, if the other three were in.
Shakespeare
Master,
carest
thou not that we perish?
Mark. iv. 38.
To care for
.
(a)
To have under watchful attention; to take care of.
(b)
To have regard or affection for; to like or love.
He
cared
not for the affection of the house.
Tennyson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Care

CARE

,
Noun.
1.
Concern; anxiety; solicitude; nothing some degree of pain in the mind, from apprehension of evil.
They shall eat bread by weight and with care. Ezek. 4.
2.
Caution; a looking to; regard; attention, or heed, with a view to safety or protection, as in the phrase, take care of yourself.
A want of care does more damage than a want of knowledge.
3.
Charge or oversight, implying concern for safety and prosperity; as, he was under the care of a physician.
That which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 2 Cor. 6.
4.
The object of care, or watchful regard and attention; as, Is she thy care?

CARE

, v.t.
1.
To be anxious or solicitous; to be concerned about.
Master, carest thou not that we perish? Mark 4.
2.
To be inclined or disposed; to have regard to; with for before a noun, and to before a verb. Not caring to observe the wind. Great masters in painting never care for drawing people in the fashion. In this sense the word implies a less degree of concern. The different degrees of anxiety expressed by this word constitute the chief differences in its signification or applications.

Definition 2024

care

care

See also: caré, căre, çare, çarë, and -care

English

Noun

care ‎(countable and uncountable, plural cares)

  1. (obsolete) Grief, sorrow.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.V:
      Than Feraunte his cosyn had grete care and cryed full lowde […].
    • Macbeth, Shakespeare:
      Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care […].
  2. Close attention; concern; responsibility.
    Care should be taken when holding babies.‎
    • Shakespeare
      I thank thee for thy care and honest pains.
  3. Worry.
    I don't have a care in the world.‎
  4. Maintenance, upkeep.
    dental care‎
  5. The treatment of those in need (especially as a profession).
  6. The state of being cared for by others.
    in care‎
  7. The object of watchful attention or anxiety.
    • Spenser
      Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Quotations
  • 1925, Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie
    ‘Have a care, Buquet—ghosts like not to be seen or talked about!’

Etymology 2

From Middle English caren, carien, from Old English carian ‎(“to sorrow, grieve, be troubled, be anxious, to care for, heed”), from Proto-Germanic *karōną ‎(“to care”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵār-, *gÀr- ‎(“voice, exclamation”). Cognate with Middle High German karn ‎(“to complain, lament, grieve, mourn”), Alemannic German karen, kären ‎(“to groan, wheeze, give a death rattle”), Swedish kära ‎(“to fall in love”), Icelandic kæra ‎(“to care, like”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍉𐌽 ‎(karōn, “to be concerned”).

Verb

care ‎(third-person singular simple present cares, present participle caring, simple past and past participle cared)

  1. (intransitive) To be concerned about, have an interest in.
    I don't care what you think.‎
    • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
      And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
    • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
      This newfound infatuation renders Bart uncharacteristically vulnerable. He suddenly has something to care about beyond causing trouble and makes a dramatic transformation from ****-raiser to gentleman about town.
  2. (intransitive) To look after.
    Young children can learn to care for a pet.‎
  3. (intransitive) To be mindful of.
  4. (intransitive) Polite or formal way to say want.
    Would you care for another slice of cake?‎
    Would you care to dance?‎
Usage notes
  • Sense 4. Most commonly found as an interrogative or negative sentence.
  • Sense 4. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: following · fell · different · #388: care · war · short · able

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

Verb

care

  1. first-person singular present indicative of carer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of carer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of carer
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of carer
  5. second-person singular imperative of carer

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

care f pl

  1. feminine plural of caro

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

carē

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of careō

Adjective

cāre

  1. vocative masculine singular of cārus

References

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin quālis, quālem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈka.re/
  • Rhymes: -are

Determiner

care

  1. which
    Care din aceste jocuri este nou? - Which of these games is new?

Inflection

Pronoun

care

  1. which, that, who
    El este un om care a văzut foarte multe lucruri. - He is a man who has seen very many things.

Venetian

Adjective

care f

  1. feminine plural of caro

Etymology

From Middle English care, from Old English caru, ċearu ‎(“care, concern, anxiety, sorrow, grief, trouble”), from Proto-Germanic *karō ‎(“care, sorrow, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r- ‎(“shout, call”). Cognate with Old Saxon cara, kara ‎(“concern, action”), Middle High German kar ‎(“sorrow, lamentation”), Icelandic kör ‎(“sickbed”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍂𐌰 ‎(kara, “concern, care”). Related also to Dutch karig ‎(“scanty”), German karg ‎(“sparse, meagre, barren”), Latin garriō, Ancient Greek γῆρυς ‎(gêrus). See chary.

Pronunciation

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