care

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Close attention; concern; responsibility.

   “Care should be taken when holding babies.”

   “I thank thee for thy care and honest pains.”

   “‘Have a care, Buquet—ghosts like not to be seen or talked about!’”

2. (countable, uncountable)Worry.

   “I don’t have a care in the world.”

   “Yes, heaven, I’m in heaven / And the cares that hung around me through the week / Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak”

3. (uncountable)Maintenance, upkeep.

   “dental care”

   “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

4. (uncountable)The treatment of those in need (especially as a profession).

   “The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.”

5. (UK, uncountable)The state of being cared for by others.

   “in care”

6. (countable, uncountable)The object of watchful attention or anxiety.

   “Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.”

7. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Grief, sorrow.

   “More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!”

   “Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care.”

   “One day, among the days, he bethought him of this and fell lamenting for that the most part of his existence was past and he had not been vouchsafed a son, to inherit the kingdom after him, even as he had inherited it from his fathers and forebears; by reason whereof there betided him sore cark and care and chagrin exceeding.”

verb

1. (intransitive, transitive)To be concerned (about), to have an interest (in); to feel concern (about).

   “She doesn’t care what you think.”

   “I don’t care, I’m still going.”

   “[…] What cares these roarers [i.e. thunder] for the name of king?[…]”

   “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.”

   “This newfound infatuation renders Bart uncharacteristically vulnerable. He suddenly has something to care about beyond causing trouble and makes a dramatic transformation from hell-raiser to gentleman about town.”

2. (formal, intransitive, polite)To want, to desire; to like; to be inclined towards or interested in.

   “Would you care for another slice of cake?”

   “Would you care to dance?”

   “I don’t care to hear your opinion.”

3. (broadly, informal, intransitive)To be affected by, to treat as relevant for a subsequent course of action.

   “An event aggregator facilitates a fire-and-forget model of communication. The object triggering the event doesn’t care if there are any subscribers. It just fires the event and moves on.”

4. (intransitive)(with for) To look after or look out for.

   “Young children can learn to care for a pet.”

   “He cared for his mother while she was sick.”

5. (Appalachia, intransitive)To mind; to object.

   “After introducing herself, the therapist then asked the patient if it would be all right to do the exercises which the doctor had ordered for her. The patient would response, "Well, I don't care to." For several days, the therapist immediately left the room and officially recorded that the patient had "refused" therapy. […] It was not until months later that this therapist […] discovered that she should have been interpreting "I don't care to" as "I don't mind" doing those exercises now.”

name

1. A surname.