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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.

He wanted to be able to look after himself.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

"It's sad but if there can be something in place to help look after fighters after the sport it's a massive, massive thing."

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Decades after Spinks was celebrated as the Beckham of his era, the central question remains - when the cheering stops, who is left to look after the person in the middle of the ring?

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Alberto also helped look after her father until he died, and her mother, who is 87 and lives with them as well.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

“I will look after her,” she told them.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

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.