case

Noun

• (n.) case, instance, example (an occurrence of something) "it was a case of bad judgment"; "another instance occurred yesterday"; "but there is always the famous example of the Smiths"
• (n.) event, case (a special set of circumstances) "in that event, the first possibility is excluded"; "it may rain in which case the picnic will be canceled"
• (n.) lawsuit, suit, case, cause, causa (a comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy) "the family brought suit against the landlord"
• (n.) case (the actual state of things) "that was not the case"
• (n.) case (a portable container for carrying several objects) "the musicians left their instrument cases backstage"
• (n.) case (a person requiring professional services) "a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor"
• (n.) subject, case, guinea pig (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"
• (n.) case (a problem requiring investigation) "Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir"
• (n.) case (a statement of facts and reasons used to support an argument) "he stated his case clearly"
• (n.) case, caseful (the quantity contained in a case)
• (n.) case, grammatical case (nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence)
• (n.) case (a specific state of mind that is temporary) "a case of the jitters"
• (n.) character, eccentric, type, case (a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)) "a real character"; "a strange character"; "a friendly eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case"
• (n.) font, fount, typeface, face, case (a specific size and style of type within a type family)
• (n.) sheath, case (an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part)
• (n.) shell, case, casing (the housing or outer covering of something) "the clock has a walnut case"
• (n.) casing, case (the enclosing frame around a door or window opening) "the casings had rotted away and had to be replaced"
• (n.) case, compositor's case, typesetter's case ((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"
• (n.) case, pillowcase, slip, pillow slip (bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow) "the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase"
• (n.) case, display case, showcase, vitrine (a glass container used to store and display items in a shop or museum or home)

Verb

• (v.) case (look over, usually with the intention to rob) "They men cased the housed"
• (v.) encase, incase, case (enclose in, or as if in, a case) "my feet were encased in mud"