The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Case \Case\, n. [F. cas, fr. L. casus, fr. cadere to fall, to
   happen. Cf. Chance.]
   1. Chance; accident; hap; opportunity. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            By aventure, or sort, or cas.         --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. That which befalls, comes, or happens; an event; an
      instance; a circumstance, or all the circumstances;
      condition; state of things; affair; as, a strange case; a
      case of injustice; the case of the Indian tribes.
      [1913 Webster]

            In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge.
                                                  --Deut. xxiv.
                                                  13.
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            If the case of the man be so with his wife. --Matt.
                                                  xix. 10.
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            And when a lady's in the case
            You know all other things give place. --Gay.
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            You think this madness but a common case. --Pope.
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            I am in case to justle a constable,   --Shak.
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   3. (Med. & Surg.) A patient under treatment; an instance of
      sickness or injury; as, ten cases of fever; also, the
      history of a disease or injury.
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            A proper remedy in hypochondriacal cases.
                                                  --Arbuthnot.
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   4. (Law) The matters of fact or conditions involved in a
      suit, as distinguished from the questions of law; a suit
      or action at law; a cause.
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            Let us consider the reason of the case, for nothing
            is law that is not reason.            --Sir John
                                                  Powell.
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            Not one case in the reports of our courts. --Steele.
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   5. (Gram.) One of the forms, or the inflections or changes of
      form, of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, which indicate its
      relation to other words, and in the aggregate constitute
      its declension; the relation which a noun or pronoun
      sustains to some other word.
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            Case is properly a falling off from the nominative
            or first state of word; the name for which, however,
            is now, by extension of its signification, applied
            also to the nominative.               --J. W. Gibbs.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Cases other than the nominative are oblique cases. Case
         endings are terminations by which certain cases are
         distinguished. In old English, as in Latin, nouns had
         several cases distinguished by case endings, but in
         modern English only that of the possessive case is
         retained.
         [1913 Webster]

   Action on the case (Law), according to the old
      classification (now obsolete), was an action for redress
      of wrongs or injuries to person or property not specially
      provided against by law, in which the whole cause of
      complaint was set out in the writ; -- called also
      trespass on the case, or simply case.

   All a case, a matter of indifference. [Obs.] "It is all a
      case to me." --L'Estrange.

   Case at bar. See under Bar, n.

   Case divinity, casuistry.

   Case lawyer, one versed in the reports of cases rather than
      in the science of the law.

   Case stated or Case agreed on (Law), a statement in
      writing of facts agreed on and submitted to the court for
      a decision of the legal points arising on them.

   A hard case, an abandoned or incorrigible person. [Colloq.]


   In any case, whatever may be the state of affairs; anyhow.


   In case, or In case that, if; supposing that; in the
      event or contingency; if it should happen that. "In case
      we are surprised, keep by me." --W. Irving.

   In good case, in good condition, health, or state of body.


   To put a case, to suppose a hypothetical or illustrative
      case.

   Syn: Situation, condition, state; circumstances; plight;
        predicament; occurrence; contingency; accident; event;
        conjuncture; cause; action; suit.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Case \Case\ (k[=a]s), n. [OF. casse, F. caisse (cf. It. cassa),
   fr. L. capsa chest, box, case, fr. capere to take, hold. See
   Capacious, and cf. 4th Chase, Cash, Enchase, 3d
   Sash.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A box, sheath, or covering; as, a case for holding goods;
      a case for spectacles; the case of a watch; the case
      (capsule) of a cartridge; a case (cover) for a book.
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   2. A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box;
      as, a case of goods; a case of instruments.
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   3. (Print.) A shallow tray divided into compartments or
      "boxes" for holding type.
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   Note: Cases for type are usually arranged in sets of two,
         called respectively the upper and the lower case. The
         upper case contains capitals, small capitals,
         accented and marked letters, fractions, and marks of
         reference: the lower case contains the small letters,
         figures, marks of punctuation, quadrats, and spaces.
         [1913 Webster]

   4. An inclosing frame; a casing; as, a door case; a window
      case.
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   5. (Mining) A small fissure which admits water to the
      workings. --Knight.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Case \Case\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cased; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Casing.]
   1. To cover or protect with, or as with, a case; to inclose.
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            The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days
            and nights in the saddle.             --Prescott.
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   2. To strip the skin from; as, to case a box. [Obs.]
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Case \Case\, v. i.
   To propose hypothetical cases. [Obs.] "Casing upon the
   matter." --L'Estrange.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

case
    n 1: 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" [syn:
         case, instance, example]
    2: a special set of circumstances; "in that event, the first
       possibility is excluded"; "it may rain in which case the
       picnic will be canceled" [syn: event, case]
    3: 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" [syn: lawsuit, suit,
       case, cause, causa]
    4: the actual state of things; "that was not the case"
    5: a portable container for carrying several objects; "the
       musicians left their instrument cases backstage"
    6: a person requiring professional services; "a typical case was
       the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor"
    7: 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" [syn: subject, case,
       guinea pig]
    8: a problem requiring investigation; "Perry Mason solved the
       case of the missing heir"
    9: a statement of facts and reasons used to support an argument;
       "he stated his case clearly"
    10: the quantity contained in a case [syn: case, caseful]
    11: nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection)
        related in some way to other words in a sentence [syn:
        case, grammatical case]
    12: a specific state of mind that is temporary; "a case of the
        jitters"
    13: 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"
        [syn: character, eccentric, type, case]
    14: a specific size and style of type within a type family [syn:
        font, fount, typeface, face, case]
    15: an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or
        plant organ or part [syn: sheath, case]
    16: the housing or outer covering of something; "the clock has a
        walnut case" [syn: shell, case, casing]
    17: the enclosing frame around a door or window opening; "the
        casings had rotted away and had to be replaced" [syn:
        casing, case]
    18: (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" [syn: case, compositor's case, typesetter's
        case]
    19: bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow; "the burglar
        carried his loot in a pillowcase" [syn: case,
        pillowcase, slip, pillow slip]
    20: a glass container used to store and display items in a shop
        or museum or home [syn: case, display case, showcase,
        vitrine]
    v 1: look over, usually with the intention to rob; "They men
         cased the housed"
    2: enclose in, or as if in, a case; "my feet were encased in
       mud" [syn: encase, incase, case]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

CASE

   1. Computer Aided Software Engineering.

   2. Common Application Service Element.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

case

   1.  switch statement.

   2.  Whether a character is a capital letter ("upper
   case" - ABC..Z) or a small letter ("lower case" - abc..z).

   The term case comes from the printing trade when the use of
   moving type was invented in the early Middle Ages (Caxton or
   Gutenberg?) and the letters for each font were stored in a
   box with two sections (or "cases"), the upper case was for the
   capital letters and the lower case was for the small letters.
   The Oxford Universal Dictionary of Historical Principles (Feb
   1993, reprinted 1952) indicates that this usage of "case" (as
   the box or frame used by a compositor in the printing trade)
   was first used in 1588.

   (1996-03-01)