case

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”

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

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”

the actual state of things; “that was not the case”

a portable container for carrying several objects; “the musicians left their instrument cases backstage”

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

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 problem requiring investigation; “Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir”

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

the quantity contained in a case

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

a specific state of mind that is temporary; “a case of the jitters”

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 size and style of type within a type family

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

the housing or outer covering of something; “the clock has a walnut case”

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

(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”

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

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

look over, usually with the intention to rob; “They men cased the housed”

enclose in, or as if in, a case; “my feet were encased in mud”