Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to arrest.

1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1916		‘A-No. 1’ Snare of the Road 98: They won’t be able to take care of all of us.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] There’d been Jack Legs Diamond and Waxey Gordon also, but those two guys’d been taken care of with the help of Dewey, the racket buster.

2. to beat up; to kill.

1827		Standard (London) 20 Oct. 1/4: ‘Give it him home, Harry’ — ‘Take care of him now — he sees his own blood’.
1900		Boy’s Own Paper 24 Nov. 114: ‘You stay right here now,’ he whispered; ‘I’ll take care of that fellow.’.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Situation Wanted’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 658: In six or seven years [...] Asleep takes care of scores of characters.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 34: The kind of slugger who could take care of two ordinary guys by himself.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 121: The Cootas [are] going to be taken care of by a group even more professional than us.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 185: Let me take care-a the nigger for you.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 41: I [...] took him out there in the country and took care of him.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 26: I’m glad you took care of that prick who was using my name.
1997		G. Sikes 8 Ball Chicks (1998) 32: Other guys in the hood could have taken care of this girl.
2004		A. Kleinzahler Cutty one Rock (2005) 165: He somehow got into it with several greasers late one night [...] he took care of a couple of them.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 39: ‘He wants you to take care of the guy.’ ‘Take care like how? Buy him lunch. Get him a woman?’.

3. to bribe (whether with money or other favours, e.g. sex); to exert (political) pressure on.

1929		R. Moley ‘The Municipal Court in Chicago’ in Illinois Association for Criminal Justice et al. Illinois Crime Survey 409: [A] proposition was made by certain officials in the city to a young lawyer and the assurance was given that the cases in which he was interested would not be vigorously prosecuted, provided he accepted the status [of a courtroom ‘regular"]. He was told that no ‘split’ was necessary but from time to time he would have to take care of the lock-up keeper and the bailiffs.
1932		Seabury Report 66: Q. How would you compensate the assistant clerk for that assistance? A. Well, I would take care of him in accordance with whatever fee I received.
1948		N. Nye Breed of the Chaparral (1949) 72: Will fifty thousan’ take care o’ you?
1954		Mad mag. May 9: A ten dollar bill for [...] looking the other way ... I hope that takes care of you.
1970		‘Red’ Rudensky Gonif 13: I always took care of the special bulls and it got to the point where Red’s package arrived almost without inspection.
1991		B. McCarthy Vice Cop 55: Being taken care of could mean anything from a blow-job in the back room to free drinks, and, invariably, money would change hands.
2004		R. Cooley When Corruption Was King 235: [of coupt judges] We’re gonna have to take care of Scotillo and Buck now’.

4. to pay, to give a tip.

1943		W.R. Burnett Nobody Lives for Ever 138: ‘[Y]ou’ll find twenty-five hundred dollars in your package. I told you I’d take care of you’.
1957		W.R. Burnett Underdog 25: ‘But Dr. Planck’s report was the real clincher,’ Mitchell went on. [...] ‘We got to take care of that guy some way,’ said Big Dan. ‘No, no,’ said Mitchell, quickly. [...] ‘He’s not looking for anything’.
1964		D. Gregory Nigger 98: Didn't even have to tip the usher [...] ‘Thanks, baby, I’ll take care of you next time’.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 44: Thanks Pops, I’ll take care of you when I come down tomorrow.

5. to have sexual intercourse with.

1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 185: There cute-looking girls [...] stretched out in the hot sun. ‘Oh, brother,’ the Killer observed, ‘how wudja like to take care of them?’.
1953		‘John Eagle’ Hoodlums (2021) 45: ‘A little gift from my honey, for taking care of her. If you know what I mean’ [ibid.] 99: Remember this kid is taking care of me. Like I’ve never been taken care of before. What she didn’t know in the bedroom wasn’t necessary.
1990		R. Doyle Snapper 128: You took care of me five months ago. Goodbye, Mister Burgess.

6. to cause trouble for.

1958		S.E. Wallace Participant Observation Journal in Wallace Skid Row (1965) 38: Out he goes after that. I told him about it. I’ll take care of him.
a.1986		‘Old Zebra Dun’ in G. Logsdon Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 83: All you so and so’s, you said this hawse was tame! / Well, I’ll ride him! I’m his owner! But I’m takin’ care of you. / You boys now have a burro! You can go to Timbucktoo!