Synonyms

look after

British

verb

to take care of; be responsible for

she looked after the child while I was out
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

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.

On their days off they look after their baby and twin toddlers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

"There's probably a guy among these people picking up trash, who has a young kid at home and left his wife to look after them to come watch the World Cup," wrote another.

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026

Lou Sampson, from Cirencester, no longer works so she can look after her husband.

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2026

We need to make sure we look after him, rally around him, and in time we'll get on to those sorts of decisions.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026

Then she linked her arm with mine and said, ‘We’re your friends now. We’ll look after you.’

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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

look after

verb

Example Sentences

Related Words