Word.ws English Dictionary

basket cases

basket cases is the plural of basket case.

Meaning of basket case

Noun

basket case (plural basket cases)

  1. (colloquial, historical, offensive) Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs.
    • The Surgeon General of the Army […] denies […] that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated […] of the existence of ‘basket cases’ in our hospitals.1919, Official Bulletin (U.S. Comm. Public Information), 28 March
  2. (colloquial) An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise).
    • This country is a financial basket case, a country so broke that it should be a perfect warning to lenders.
  3. (colloquial, potentially offensive) One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable.
    • She was a complete basket case the morning of her wedding.
  4. (colloquial) An item in a disassembled state that is brought to be repaired.

Questions about basket cases

What is basket cases the plural of?
Basket cases is the plural of basket case.

Words near basket cases in the dictionary

  1. Baskervillean
  2. Baskervillian
  3. basket
  4. basket bush
  5. basket case
  6. basket cases
  7. basket cell
  8. basket cells
  9. basket chair
  10. basket chairs
  11. basket clam

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: basket cases (page history and authors); basket case (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “basket cases.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/basket_cases. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.