case

Definition of case

Pronunciation

• IPA: /keɪs/, SAMPA: /keIs/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -eɪs

Etymology 1

From Middle English cas < Old English cas(us) (noun case) < Old French cas (an event) < Latin casus (a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case), perfect passive participle of cadere (to fall, sink, drop) < Proto-Indo-European base *kad- (to fall).

Noun

case (plural cases)

1. (law) A legal proceeding, lawsuit.
2. One of several similar instances or events which are being studied and compared.
3. (grammar): An instance of grammatical case; a category of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, specialized (usually by inflection) to indicate a particular syntactic relation to other words in a sentence.
   
   The accusative case canonically indicates a direct object.
   Latin has six cases, and remnants of a seventh.
   
   
4. (grammar) (uncountable) A set of grammatical cases or their meanings in a particular language collectively.
   
   Jane has been studying case in Caucasian languages.
   Latin is a language that employs case.
   
   
5. A piece of work, specifically defined within a profession.
   
   It was one of the detective's easiest cases.
   Social workers should work on a maximum of forty active cases.
   The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning.
   
   
6. (medicine) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptons.
   
   There were another five cases reported overnight.

Etymology 2

From Middle English cas < Old North French casse, Old French chasse (box, chest, case) < Latin capsa (box, bookcase), from capere (to take, seize, hold).

Noun

case (plural cases)

1. A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
2. A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
3. A suitcase.
4. A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
5. The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
6. In typography, the nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a "capital" (upper case) or "small" (lower case) letter.
7. (poker slang) four of a kind
8. (US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

Adjective

case

1. (poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank
   
   He drew the case eight!

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

Verb

to case (third-person singular simple present cases, present participle casing, simple past and past participle cased)

1. (transitive) To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
2. (transitive) (informal) To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
   
   case the joint

Anagrams

• Alphagram: aces , Aces
• ASCE
• ESCA

Further reading

Legal case

A legal case is a dispute between opposing parties resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case may be either civil or criminal. There is a defendant and an accuser.

Common elements

Legal cases, whether criminal or civil, are premised on the idea that a dispute will be fairly resolved when a legal procedure exists by which the dispute can be brought to a factfinder not otherwise involved in the case, who can evaluate evidence to determine the truth with respect to claims of guilt, innocence, liability, or lack of fault. Details of the procedure may depend on both the kind of case and the kind of system in which the case is brought - whether, for example, it is an inquisitorial system or an adversarial system.