look after

Verb

look after (third-person singular simple present looks after, present participle looking after, simple past and past participle looked after)

1. (transitive) To follow with the eyes; to look in the direction of (someone or something departing).
   • The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then, as I stopped to look after him; and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 10
2. (regional, transitive) To seek out, to look for.
   • My subject does not necessarily oblige me to look after this water, or point forth the place whereunto 'tis now retreated.1695, John Woodward, “(please specify the page)”, in An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: And Terrestrial Bodies, Especially Minerals: […], London: […] Ric[hard] Wilkin […], →OCLC
   • I have sent my intended husband to look after my lover […].1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Duenna, II.4
3. (also, reflexive, transitive) To care for; to keep safe.
   • He asked me to look after his daughter while he was away.
   • The station is clearly well looked after, making it a worthy gateway to the resort.2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27

   Synonyms:

   take care of

4. (transitive) To have as one's business; to manage, be responsible for.

   Synonyms:

   keep

5. (obsolete, transitive) To expect, look forward to.
   • Mens hearts failing them for feare, and for looking after those things which are comming on the earth; For the powers of heauen shall be shaken.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 21:26