a portable container for carrying several objects
"the musicians left their instrument cases backstage"
a person requiring professional services
"a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor"
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"
nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence
"The linguist spent hours analyzing how the case of each noun changes depending on its role within the complex German sentence."
(printing) the receptacle in which a compositor has his type, which is divided into compartments for the different letters, spaces, or numbers
"for English, a compositor will ordinarily have two such cases, the upper case containing the capitals and the lower case containing the small letters"
bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow
"the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase"
a glass container used to store and display items in a shop or museum or home
"The antique dealer placed the delicate porcelain vase inside its protective case before setting it out for customers to view."
An actual event, situation, or fact.
"In linguistics classes, we often study how changing the grammatical case of a word can completely alter its role within a sentence structure."
A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
computer-aided software engineering.
abstract feature of a noun phrase that determines its function in a sentence, such as a grammatical case and a position.
In plain English: A case is a container used to hold and protect something, like a suitcase for clothes or a briefcase for documents.
"She put her phone inside the protective case to keep it safe from drops."
Usage: Do not use "case" to mean a grammatical category or syntactic function when referring to everyday situations, legal matters, or physical containers. Instead, reserve the word for describing an instance of something happening, a specific problem requiring attention, or a protective enclosure.
to propose hypothetical cases
To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
In plain English: To case something means to secretly watch or check it out, usually to see if there is anything valuable inside.
"The lawyer will case the building before entering."
Usage: Use "to case" to mean placing manufactured items into boxes for shipping, but avoid using it for the common everyday sense of opening a door or window to look inside. Instead, use "case" as a noun for the container itself or switch to verbs like "inspect" or "examine" when referring to looking around.
The last remaining card of a particular rank.
"After shuffling the deck, I reached for my final case to complete the straight flush."
In plain English: When something is described as case, it means it is real and actually happened instead of being made up.
"The case file on my desk is full of important evidence."
Usage: This definition refers to a specific card game term and is not used in everyday English. In common conversation, "case" functions only as a noun meaning an instance or situation, so it should never be treated as an adjective describing the final card.
A surname.
"Did you meet Case at the reunion last weekend?"
The word "case" comes from the Latin verb cadō, meaning "to fall," which originally referred to something that had fallen or an accident. It traveled into English through Old French and Middle English, where it evolved to cover meanings ranging from a physical container to a situation or legal matter.