Case word meaning and definition

[noun] (law) a comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy; "the family brought suit against the landlord"
[noun] a portable container for carrying several objects; "the musicians left their instrument cases backstage"
[noun] a glass container used to store and display items in a shop or museum or home
[noun] bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow; "the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase"
[noun] the enclosing frame around a door or window opening; "the casings had rotted away and had to be replaced"
[noun] the housing or outer covering of something; "the clock has a walnut case"
[noun] an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part
[noun] the actual state of things; "that was not the case"
[noun] nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence
[noun] a statement of facts and reasons used to support an argument; "he stated his case clearly"
[noun] a problem requiring investigation; "Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir"
[noun] an occurrence of something; "it was a case of bad judgment"; "another instance occurred yesterday"; "but there is always the famous example of the Smiths"
[noun] a person requiring professional services; "a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor"
[noun] a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); "a real character"; "a strange character"; "a friendly eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case"
[noun] a person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation; "the subjects for this investigation were selected randomly"; "the cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities"
[noun] the quantity contained in a case
[noun] a special set of circumstances; "in that event, the first possibility is excluded"; "it may rain in which case the picnic will be canceled"
[noun] a specific state of mind that is temporary; "a case of the jitters"
[verb] enclose in, or as if in, a case"my feet were encased in mud."
[verb] look over, usually with the intention to rob; "They men cased the housed"

\Case\ (k[=a]s), n. [OF. casse, F. caisse (cf. It. cassa), fr. L. capsa chest, box, case, fr. capere to take, hold. See {Capacious}, and cf. 4th {Chase}, {Cash}, {Enchase}, 3d {Sash}.] 1. A box, sheath, or covering; as, a case for holding goods; a case for spectacles; the case of a watch; the case (capsule) of a cartridge; a case (cover) for a book. 2. A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box; as, a case of goods; a case of instruments. 3. (Print.) A shallow tray divided into compartments or ``boxes'' for holding type. Note: Cases for type are usually arranged in sets of two, called respectively the upper and the lower case. The {upper case} contains capitals, small capitals, accented and marked letters, fractions, and marks of reference: the {lower case} contains the small letters, figures, marks of punctuation, quadrats, and spaces. 4. An inclosing frame; a casing; as, a door case; a window case. 5. (Mining) A small fissure which admits water to the workings. --Knight.
\Case\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cased}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Casing}.] 1. To cover or protect with, or as with, a case; to inclose. The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle. --Prescott. 2. To strip the skin from; as, to case a box. [Obs.]
\Case\, n. [F. cas, fr. L. casus, fr. cadere to fall, to happen. Cf. {Chance}.] 1. Chance; accident; hap; opportunity. [Obs.] By aventure, or sort, or cas. --Chaucer. 2. That which befalls, comes, or happens; an event; an instance; a circumstance, or all the circumstances; condition; state of things; affair; as, a strange case; a case of injustice; the case of the Indian tribes. In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge. --Deut. xxiv. 13. If the case of the man be so with his wife. --Matt. xix. 10. And when a lady's in the case You know all other things give place. --Gay. You think this madness but a common case. --Pope. I am in case to justle a constable, --Shak. 3. (Med. & Surg.) A patient under treatment; an instance of sickness or injury; as, ten cases of fever; also, the history of a disease or injury. A proper remedy in hypochondriacal cases. --Arbuthnot. 4. (Law) The matters of fact or conditions involved in a suit, as distinguished from the questions of law; a suit or action at law; a cause. Let us consider the reason of the case, for nothing is law that is not reason. --Sir John Powell. Not one case in the reports of our courts. --Steele. 5. (Gram.) One of the forms, or the inflections or changes of form, of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, which indicate its relation to other words, and in the aggregate constitute its declension; the relation which a noun or pronoun sustains to some other word. Case is properly a falling off from the nominative or first state of word; the name for which, however, is now, by extension of its signification, applied also to the nominative. --J. W. Gibbs. Note: Cases other than the nominative are oblique cases. Case endings are terminations by which certain cases are distinguished. In old English, as in Latin, nouns had several cases distinguished by case endings, but in modern English only that of the possessive case is retained. {Action on the case} (Law), according to the old classification (now obsolete), was an action for redress of wrongs or injuries to person or property not specially provided against by law, in which the whole cause of complaint was set out in the writ; -- called also {trespass on the case}, or simply {case}. {All a case}, a matter of indifference. [Obs.] ``It is all a case to me.'' --L'Estrange. {Case at bar}. See under {Bar}, n. {Case divinity}, casuistry. {Case lawyer}, one versed in the reports of cases rather than in the science of the law. {Case} {stated or agreed on} (Law), a statement in writing of facts agreed on and submitted to the court for a decision of the legal points arising on them. {A hard case}, an abandoned or incorrigible person. [Colloq.] {In any case}, whatever may be the state of affairs; anyhow. {In case}, or {In case that}, if; supposing that; in the event or contingency; if it should happen that. ``In case we are surprised, keep by me.'' --W. Irving. {In good case}, in good condition, health, or state of body. {To put a case}, to suppose a hypothetical or illustrative case. Syn: Situation, condition, state; circumstances; plight; predicament; occurrence; contingency; accident; event; conjuncture; cause; action; suit.
\Case\, v. i. To propose hypothetical cases. [Obs.] ``Casing upon the matter.'' --L'Estrange.

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