cases

Noun

case (plural cases)

1. An actual event, situation, or fact.
   • For a change, in this case, he was telling the truth.
2. (archaic) A given condition or state.
   • Thus vvhilſt he hopt he hild her leaſt, ſo altereth the cace / VVith ſuch as ſhe, Ah ſuch it is to build on ſuch a face.1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XXXVI.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page...
3. A specific matter or piece of work, specifically defined within a profession, usually in respect of a specific person and/or event; the set of tasks involved in addressing one such matter.
   • It was one of the detective's easiest cases.
4. An instance or event as a topic of study.
   • The teaching consists of theory lessons and case studies.
5. 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. […]”1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening &...
6. A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
   • The accusative case most commonly indicates a direct object.

See all 35 meanings of case