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Synonyms

look after

British  

verb

  1. to take care of; be responsible for

    she looked after the child while I was out

  2. to follow with the eyes

    he looked after the girl thoughtfully
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
look after Idioms  

  1. Also, look out for; see after. Take care of, attend to the safety or well-being of, as in Please look after your little brother, or We left Jane to look out for the children, or Please see after the luggage. The first expression dates from the second half of the 1300s, the second from the mid-1900s, and the third from the early 1700s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Would you buy an emotionally intelligent robot to look after a loved one?

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

When she arrived back in Yangon in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Myanmar was in the midst of major political upheaval.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

Their life together was changing though and Kirsty gave up her paid job as a carer to look after him.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

And they said, ‘if you do it, then we’ll look after you.’

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

I know her so well and try to look after her but it's not so easy.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.