case

Etymology 1

From Middle English cas, from Old French cas (“an event”), from Latin cāsus (“a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case”), perfect passive participle of cadō (“to fall, to drop”).

noun

1. An actual event, situation, or fact.
   For a change, in this case, he was telling the truth.
   It is not the case that every unfamiliar phrase is an idiom.
   In case of fire, break glass. [sign on fire extinguisher holder in public space]
   Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete. 2013-07-20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
2. (now rare) A given condition or state.
   Mares which are over-fat, hold with much difficulty; whereas those that are but in good case and plump, conceive with the greatest readiness and ease. 1726, Nathan Bailey, John Worlidge, Dictionarium Rusticum, Urbanicum & Botanicum
3. A piece of work, specifically defined within a profession; the set of tasks involved in addressing the situation of a specific person or event.
   It was one of the detective's easiest cases.  Social workers should work on a maximum of forty active cases.  The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning.
   The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff. These properties were known to have belonged to a toddy drawer. He had disappeared. 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
4. (academia) An instance or event as a topic of study.
   The teaching consists of theory lessons and case studies.
   He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. 2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 162
5. (law) A legal proceeding; a lawsuit or prosecution.
   Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […] 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Tremarn Case
6. (grammar) A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
   The accusative case canonically indicates a direct object.  Latin has six cases, and remnants of a seventh.
   Now, the Subject of either an indicative or a subjunctive Clause is always assigned Nominative case, as we see from: (16) (a) I know [that they/*them/*their leave for Hawaii tomorrow] (16) (b)   I demand [that they/*them/*their leave for Hawaii tomorrow] By contrast, the Subject of an infinitive Clause is assigned Objective case, as we see from: (17)   I want [them/*they/*their to leave for Hawaii tomorrow] And the Subject of a gerund Clause is assigned either Objective or Genitive case: cf. (18)   I don't like the idea of [them/their/*they leaving for Hawaii tomorrow] 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 292
7. (grammar, uncountable) Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language.
   Jane has been studying case in Caucasian languages.  Latin is a language that employs case.
8. (medicine) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms.
   There were another five cases reported overnight.
9. (programming) A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch.
   Place a break statement at the end of every case to prevent case fall-through. 2004, Rick Miller, C++ for Artists
   Execution does not automatically stop at the next case. 2011, Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus, page 275

verb

1. (obsolete) to propose hypothetical cases

Etymology 2

From Middle English case, from Old Northern French casse, (compare Old French chasse (“box, chest, case”)), from Latin capsa (“box, bookcase”), from capiō (“to take, seize, hold”). Doublet of cash. Compare Spanish caja, Asturian caxa.

noun

1. A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
2. A box, sheath, or covering generally.
   a case for spectacles; the case of a watch
3. A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
4. An enclosing frame or casing.
   a door case; a window case
5. A suitcase.
6. A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
7. The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
8. (printing, historical) A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces).
9. (typography, by extension) The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter.
10. (poker slang) Four of a kind.
11. (US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
12. (mining) A small fissure which admits water into the workings.
13. A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft.
14. A cardboard box that holds (usually 24) beer bottles or cans.
    a single case of Bud Light
15. (UK, slang, obsolete) A counterfeit crown (five-shilling coin).
    The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence. 1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90

adj

1. (poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank.
   He drew the case eight!
   If he did have a bigger ace, I still had at least six outs — the case ace, two nines, and three tens. I could also have more outs if he held anything less than A-K. 2006, David Apostolico, Lessons from the Professional Poker Tour, page 21

verb

1. (transitive) To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
2. (transitive) To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose.
3. (transitive, informal) To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
   You are in the grounds of Brockholes Abbey, a house into which a great deal of valuable property has just been moved. And your job is to case the joint for a break in. 1977, Michael Innes, The Gay Phoenix, page 116
   Bonnie worked as a daycare director. She helped case the FBI office by posing as a college student interested in becoming an FBI agent. 2014, Amy Goodman, From COINTELPRO to Snowden, the FBI Burglars Speak Out After 43 Years of Silence (Part 2), Democracy Now!, January 8, 2014, 0:49 to 0:57