noun

case

kays

noun

A particular situation, instance, or set of facts.

"In this case, it's better to wait and see."

"She studied several cases of successful small businesses."

A matter under legal, medical, or professional investigation.

"The detective was assigned a new case."

"The court will hear the case next month."

A container, box, or covering designed to hold or protect something.

"He packed his guitar into its case before the flight."

"She keeps her glasses in a hard case."

Grammar: the form a noun, pronoun, or adjective takes to show its role in a sentence.

""Him" is the objective case of "he"."

verb

To pack something into a case, or to observe a place closely before a robbery.

"The thieves cased the bank for a week before the heist."

How to Use Case

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishEither a specific situation/example (including legal or medical ones) or a box/covering that holds something.

Common mistake

"Case" the box-word and "case" the situation-word look identical but come from separate Latin roots — a coincidence, not a shared meaning.

Common pairings

in that case a case of make a case for phone case

Word Forms

cased past tense, cased past tense, cases plural, cases plural, cases singular, cases singular

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Fill the Gap

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In this _____, it's better to wait and see.

Etymology

Two words merged into one spelling: the "event" sense is from Old French cas ("an event"), from Latin casus ("a fall, an occurrence"); the "container" sense is from Anglo-Norman casse, from Latin capsa ("box").

Synonyms

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befall grammatical case

Related Words

befall happen

Rhymes for case

base mase vase ease tase Jase erase cease phase pease chase lease

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