What is "to have a care"

Have \Have\ (h[a^]v), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Had (h[a^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Having. Indic. present, I have, thou hast, he has; we, ye, they have.] [OE. haven, habben, AS. habben (imperf. h[ae]fde, p. p. geh[ae]fd); akin to OS. hebbian, D. hebben, OFries. hebba, OHG. hab[=e]n, G. haben, Icel. hafa, Sw. hafva, Dan. have, Goth. haban, and prob. to L. habere, whence F. avoir. Cf. Able, Avoirdupois, Binnacle, Habit.]

1. To hold in possession or control; to own; as, he has a farm.

2. To possess, as something which appertains to, is connected with, or affects, one.

   The earth hath bubbles, as the water has.
   --Shak.

   He had a fever late.
   --Keats.

3. To accept possession of; to take or accept.

   Break thy mind to me in broken English; wilt thou have me?
   --Shak.

4. To get possession of; to obtain; to get.
   --Shak.

5. To cause or procure to be; to effect; to exact; to desire; to require.

   I had the church accurately described to me.
   --Sir W. Scott.

   Wouldst thou have me turn traitor also?
   --Ld. Lytton.

6. To bear, as young; as, she has just had a child.

7. To hold, regard, or esteem.

   Of them shall I be had in honor.
   --2 Sam. vi. 22.

8. To cause or force to go; to take. ``The stars have us to bed.''
   --Herbert. ``Have out all men from me.''
   --2 Sam. xiii.

9. 9. To take or hold (one's self); to proceed promptly; -- used reflexively, often with ellipsis of the pronoun; as, to have after one; to have at one or at a thing, i. e., to aim at one or at a thing; to attack; to have with a companion.
   --Shak.

10. To be under necessity or obligation; to be compelled; followed by an infinitive.

    Science has, and will long have, to be a divider and a separatist.
    --M. Arnold.

    The laws of philology have to be established by external comparison and induction.
    --Earle.

11. To understand.

    You have me, have you not?
    --Shak.

12. To put in an awkward position; to have the advantage of; as, that is where he had him. [Slang]

    Note: Have, as an auxiliary verb, is used with the past participle to form preterit tenses; as, I have loved; I shall have eaten. Originally it was used only with the participle of transitive verbs, and denoted the possession of the object in the state indicated by the participle; as, I have conquered him, I have or hold him in a conquered state; but it has long since lost this independent significance, and is used with the participles both of transitive and intransitive verbs as a device for expressing past time. Had is used, especially in poetry, for would have or should have.

    Myself for such a face had boldly died.
    --Tennyson.

    To have a care, to take care; to be on one's guard.

    To have (a man) out, to engage (one) in a duel.

    To have done (with). See under Do, v. i.

    To have it out, to speak freely; to bring an affair to a conclusion.

    To have on, to wear.

    To have to do with. See under Do, v. t.

    Syn: To possess; to own. See Possess.