Definition of "care"

care¹

/kɛə/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural cares
1. (obsolete) Grief, sorrow.
  Quotations
  More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!
  1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]
  Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care.
  c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]
  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.
  1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Julnar the Sea-Born and Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume VII, [London]: […] Burton Club […], page 265
2. Close attention; concern; responsibility.
  Quotations
  I thank thee for thy care and honest pains.
  1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]
3. (countable, uncountable) Worry.
  Quotations
  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
  1956, Irving Berlin (lyrics and music), “Cheek to Cheek”
4. (uncountable) Maintenance, upkeep.
  Quotations
  Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 2 Corinthians 11:28
5. (uncountable) The treatment of those in need (especially as a profession).
  Quotations
  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.
  2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 189, number 2, page 10
6. (uncountable) The state of being cared for by others.
7. The object of watchful attention or anxiety.
  Quotations
  Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.
  1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 17

care²

/kɛə/

verb
third-person singular simple present cares, present participle caring, simple past and past participle cared
1. (transitive, intransitive) To be concerned (about), to have an interest (in); to feel concern (about).
  Quotations
  […] What cares these roarers [i.e. thunder] for the name of king? […]
  1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]
  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.
  1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
  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.
  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
2. (intransitive, polite, formal) To want, to desire; to like; to be inclined towards.
3. (intransitive, informal, by extension) For it to matter to, or make any difference to.
  Quotations
  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.
  2013, Addy Osmani, Developing Backbone.js Applications, page 175
4. (intransitive) (with for) To look after or look out for.
5. (intransitive, Appalachia) To mind; to object.
  Quotations
  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.
  2006, Grace Toney Edwards, JoAnn Aust Asbury, Ricky L. Cox, A Handbook to Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region, Univ. of Tennessee Press, page 108

Definition of "care"

care1

noun

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care2

verb

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care¹

care²