take care of

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 care for.
   • My elderly mother needs to be taken care of.

   Synonyms:

   care for, nurse

2. (transitive) To deal with, handle.
   • Can somebody take care of the customers while I clean this mess?
   • 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.2023 February 4, Katie Rogers, quoting Joe Biden, “Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a … Chinese Spy Balloon?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   attend to

3. (euphemistic, slang, transitive) To kill.
   • In the motion picture ‘The Godfather’, gangster Virgil Sollozzo took care of Luca Brasi by having him strangled.

   Synonyms:

   bump off, knock off, wax