1. (

• 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" ;

2. (

• 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" ;

3. (

• 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" ;

4. (

• case

) the actual state of things; "that was not the case" ;

5. (

• case

) a portable container for carrying several objects; "the musicians left their instrument cases backstage" ;

6. (

• case ,

) a person requiring professional services; "a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor" ;

7. (

• 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" ;

8. (

• case ,

) a problem requiring investigation; "Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir" ;

9. (

• case ,

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

10. (

• case ,
• caseful

) the quantity contained in a case ;

11. (

• case ,
• grammatical_case

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

12. (

• case ,

) a specific state of mind that is temporary; "a case of the jitters" ;

13. (

• 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" ;

14. (

• font ,
• fount ,
• typeface ,
• face ,
• case ,

) a specific size and style of type within a type family ;

15. (

• sheath ,
• case

) an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part ;

16. (

• shell ,
• case ,
• casing ,

) the housing or outer covering of something; "the clock has a walnut case" ;

17. (

• casing ,
• case ,

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

18. (

• 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" ;

19. (

• case ,
• pillowcase ,
• slip ,
• pillow_slip

) bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow; "the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase" ;

20. (

• case ,
• display_case ,
• showcase ,
• vitrine

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

1. (

• case

) look over, usually with the intention to rob; "They men cased the housed" ;

2. (

• encase ,
• incase ,
• case ,

) enclose in, or as if in, a case; "my feet were encased in mud" ;