case

case

case¹ [kās]

n.

[ME & OFr cas, an event < L casus, a chance, lit., falling, pp. of cadere, to fall < IE base * k̑ad-, to fall > Sans s̍ad-, to fall off]

1. an example, instance, or occurrence [a case of carelessness, a case of measles]

2. a person being treated or helped, as by a doctor or social worker

3. any individual or matter requiring or undergoing official or formal observation, study, investigation, etc.

4. a statement of the facts or circumstances, as in a law court, esp. the argument of one side [the case for the defendant]

5. supporting or convincing arguments or evidence; proper grounds for a statement or action [he has no case]

6. a legal action or suit, esp. one studied or cited as a precedent

☆ 7. Informal a peculiar or eccentric person

☆ 8. Informal an infatuation; crushan infatuation; crush

9. [so named because L cases were thought of as “falling away” from the nom.: see ACCIDENCE] Gram.

a) the syntactic relationship shown in highly inflected languages such as German and Latin by changes in the form of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives

b) the form that a noun, pronoun, or adjective takes to show such relationship

c) any of the sets of such forms [the accusative case]

d) in Modern English and other languages with relatively few inflections, such a relationship, whether expressed by word order or by inflected forms; also, any of these forms or sets of forms, esp. the Modern English subjective, objective, and possessive forms of pronouns and possessive form of nouns

vt.

cased, casing

☆ Slang to look over carefully, esp. in preparation for an intended robbery

SYN.- INSTANCE

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☆ get on someone's case or get off someone's case

to start (or stop) intruding in another's affairs

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in any case

no matter what else may be true; anyhow

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in case

in the event that; if

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in case of

in the event of; if there should happen to be

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in no case

by no means; not under any circumstances; never

case² [kās]

n.

[ME < OFr dial. casse (OFr chasse) < L capsa, box < capere, to take, hold: see HAVE]

1. a container, as a box, crate, chest, sheath, or folder

2. a protective cover or covering part [a leather case, seedcase]

3. a full box or its contents [a case of beer]

4. a set or pair [a case of pistols]

5. a frame as for a window or door

6. a shallow compartmented tray in which printing type is kept

vt.

cased, casing

1. to put into a container

2. to cover or enclose