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The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.

Usage examples of "to have a care".

The child ran faster, so fast that he cried out for her to have a care, she'd tear her stockings on the brambles shielding the mouth of the rabbit hole.

I would ask her to have a care among others of the Brethren who may be of lesser knowledge in the matter.

And Erling, as he took my horse, growled to me to have a care and wear my mail under my tunic.