Collins English-English Dictionary

case [keɪs]

1. 1. n a single instance, occurrence, or example of something

2. 2. n an instance of disease, injury, hardship, etc

3. 3. n a question or matter for discussion

   the case before the committee

4. 4. n a specific condition or state of affairs; situation

5. 5. n a set of arguments supporting a particular action, cause, etc

6. 6. n a person attended or served by a doctor, social worker, solicitor, etc; patient or client

7. 7. n (as modifier)

   a case study

8. 8. n an action or suit at law or something that forms sufficient grounds for bringing an action

   he has a good case

9. 9. n the evidence offered in court to support a claim

10. 10. n [grammar] a set of grammatical categories of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, marked by inflection in some languages, indicating the relation of the noun, adjective, or pronoun to other words in the sentence

11. 11. n any one of these categories

    the nominative case

12. 12. n [informal] a person in or regarded as being in a specified condition

    the accident victim was a hospital case

    he's a mental case

13. 13. n [informal] a person of a specified character (esp in the phrase a hard case)

14. 14. n [informal] an odd person; eccentric

15. 15. n [US] [informal] love or infatuation

16. 16. n short for case shot - See canister

17. 17. n [Etymology] Old English casus (grammatical) case, associated also with Old French cas a happening; both from Latin casus, a befalling, occurrence, from cadere to fall

case [keɪs]

1. 1. n a container, such as a box or chest

2. 2. n (in combination)

   suitcase

   briefcase

3. 3. n an outer cover or sheath, esp for a watch

4. 4. n a receptacle and its contents

   a case of ammunition

5. 5. n a pair or brace, esp of pistols

6. 6. n another word for casing

7. 7. n [architect] a completed cover ready to be fastened to a book to form its binding

8. 8. n [printing] a tray divided into many compartments in which a compositor keeps individual metal types of a particular size and style. Cases were originally used in pairs, one (the upper case) for capitals, the other (the lower case) for small letters - See also upper case lower case

9. 9. n [metallurgy] the surface of a piece of steel that has been case-hardened

10. 10. vt. [tr] to put into or cover with a case

    to case the machinery

11. 11. vt. [slang] to inspect carefully (esp a place to be robbed)

12. 12. vt. [Etymology] C13: from Old French casse, from Latin capsa, from capere to take, hold