From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Care \Care\ (k[^a]r), n. [AS. caru, cearu; akin to OS. kara
sorrow, Goth. kara, OHG chara, lament, and perh. to Gr.
gh^rys voice. Not akin to cure. Cf. Chary.]
1. A burdensome sense of responsibility; trouble caused by
onerous duties; anxiety; concern; solicitude.
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Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie. --Shak.
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2. Charge, oversight, or management, implying responsibility
for safety and prosperity.
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The care of all the churches. --2 Cor. xi.
28.
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Him thy care must be to find. --Milton.
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Perplexed with a thousand cares. --Shak.
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3. Attention or heed; caution; regard; heedfulness;
watchfulness; as, take care; have a care.
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I thank thee for thy care and honest pains. --Shak.
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4. The object of watchful attention or anxiety.
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Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.
--Spenser.
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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Care \Care\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cared; p. pr. & vb. n.
Caring.] [AS. cearian. See Care, n.]
To be anxious or solicitous; to be concerned; to have regard
or interest; -- sometimes followed by an objective of
measure.
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I would not care a pin, if the other three were in.
--Shak.
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Master, carest thou not that we perish? --Mark. iv.
38.
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To care for.
(a) To have under watchful attention; to take care of.
(b) To have regard or affection for; to like or love.
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He cared not for the affection of the house.
--Tennyson.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
care
n 1: the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone
or something; "no medical care was required"; "the old car
needs constant attention" [syn: care, attention, aid,
tending]
2: judiciousness in avoiding harm or danger; "he exercised
caution in opening the door"; "he handled the vase with care"
[syn: caution, precaution, care, forethought]
3: an anxious feeling; "care had aged him"; "they hushed it up
out of fear of public reaction" [syn: concern, care,
fear]
4: a cause for feeling concern; "his major care was the illness
of his wife"
5: attention and management implying responsibility for safety;
"he is in the care of a bodyguard" [syn: care, charge,
tutelage, guardianship]
6: activity involved in maintaining something in good working
order; "he wrote the manual on car care" [syn: care,
maintenance, upkeep]
v 1: feel concern or interest; "I really care about my work"; "I
don't care"
2: provide care for; "The nurse was caring for the wounded"
[syn: care, give care]
3: prefer or wish to do something; "Do you care to try this
dish?"; "Would you like to come along to the movies?" [syn:
wish, care, like]
4: be in charge of, act on, or dispose of; "I can deal with this
crew of workers"; "This blender can't handle nuts"; "She
managed her parents' affairs after they got too old" [syn:
manage, deal, care, handle]
5: be concerned with; "I worry about my grades" [syn: worry,
care]