case

Noun

• a glass container used to store and display items in a shop or museum or home

• bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow
  • the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase
    

• (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
    

• the enclosing frame around a door or window opening
  • the casings had rotted away and had to be replaced
    

• the housing or outer covering of something
  • the clock has a walnut case
    

• an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part

• a specific size and style of type within a type family

• 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
    

• a specific state of mind that is temporary
  • a case of the jitters
    

• nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence

• the quantity contained in a case

• a statement of facts and reasons used to support an argument
  • he stated his case clearly
    

• a problem requiring investigation
  • Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir
    

• 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
    

• a person requiring professional services
  • a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor
    

• a portable container for carrying several objects
  • the musicians left their instrument cases backstage
    

• the actual state of things
  • that was not the case
    

• 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
    

• a special set of circumstances
  • in that event, the first possibility is excluded
    
  • it may rain in which case the picnic will be canceled
    

• 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
    

Verb

• enclose in, or as if in, a case
  • my feet were encased in mud
    

• look over, usually with the intention to rob
  • They men cased the housed
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  display case , showcase , vitrine , pillowcase , slip , pillow slip , compositor's case , typesetter's case , casing , shell , sheath , font , fount , typeface , face , character , eccentric , type , grammatical case , caseful , subject , guinea pig , lawsuit , suit , cause , causa , event , instance , example