case

case¹ W1S1 [keıs] n

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1¦(example)¦

2¦(situation)¦

3 (just) in case

4 in any case

5 in that case

6¦(reason/argument)¦

7¦(law/crime)¦

8¦(box/container)¦

9 it's a case of something

10¦(disease)¦

11 in case of something

12¦(grammar)¦

13 be on somebody's case

14 be on the case

15 get off my case

16¦(person)¦

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[Sense: 1-5, 7-16; Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: cas, from Latin casus 'fall, chance', from cadere 'to fall']

[Sense: 6; Date: 1200-1300; : Old North French; Origin: casse, from Latin capsa 'box, case', from capere 'to take']

1.) ¦(EXAMPLE)¦

an example of a particular situation or of something happening

case of

▪ There were 16 cases of damage to vehicles in the area.

in the case of sth

▪ The amount of fruit in fruit juices must be 6% in the case of berries and 10% in the case of other fruits.

in some/many/most etc cases

▪ In many cases standards have greatly improved.

▪ Williams' career is a case in point (=a clear example of something that you are discussing or explaining) .

▪ This is a classic case (=typical example) of poor design.

2.) ¦(SITUATION)¦ [C usually singular]

a situation that exists, especially as it affects a particular person or group

in sb's case

▪ Like the others, he produced a written explanation, but in Scott's case this was a 30-page printed booklet.

▪ Changing men's and women's traditional roles is not easy, but in our case it has been helpful.

it is the case (that)

▪ It may be the case that the scheme will need more money.

▪ We tend to think of these people as untrustworthy, but that is not the case.

in this case

▪ In this case, several solutions could be tried.

in which case

▪ He won't want to eat it unless he's really hungry, in which case he'll eat almost anything.

3.) (just) in case

a) as a way of being safe from something that might happen or might be true

▪ Take an umbrella, in case it rains.

▪ He had his camera ready, just in case he saw something that would make a good picture.

b) AmE if

▪ In case I'm late, start without me.

4.) in any case

whatever happens or happened

▪ I don't see why I couldn't do it. In any case, I'm going to try.

▪ He's too young to come and in any case I want him to spend the time with Mom.

5.) in that case

if that is the situation

▪ 'He didn't want to talk to Sally.' 'In that case why did he agree to meet her?'

6.) ¦(REASON/ARGUMENT)¦ [C usually singular]

a set of reasons why something should happen or be done

▪ Let me research the facts before I put forward a case .

case for

▪ A group of us met to make our case for more women in the cabinet.

▪ There is a strong case (=very good set of reasons) for getting parents more involved in the school's activities.

7.) ¦(LAW/CRIME)¦

a) a question or problem that will be dealt with by a law court

▪ The case will be heard in the High Court.

▪ She is keen at all costs to avoid a court case .

▪ The lawyers will only be paid if they win the case .

▪ He was bound to lose the case .

case against

▪ Marshall has dropped the case against us.

b) all the reasons that one side in a legal argument can give against the other side

▪ The evidence does not support the prosecution's case.

▪ The court ruled that we had a case (=had enough good arguments to go to a law court) .

c) an event or set of events that need to be dealt with by the police in order to find out if a crime has been committed and who committed it

case of

▪ Police are investigating a case of armed robbery.

on the case

▪ Around 50 police officers are on the case.

8.) ¦(BOX/CONTAINER)¦

a) a large box or container in which things can be stored or moved

▪ a packing case

▪ a case of wine

b) a special box used as a container for holding or protecting something

▪ a jewellery case

▪ Jim put his violin back in its case.

c) BrE a ↑suitcase

▪ Polly carried her cases upstairs to the bedroom.

→↑bookcase, ↑briefcase, ↑pillowcase

9.) it's a case of sth

spoken used before describing a situation

▪ Everyone can learn, it's just a case of practising.

▪ It's a case of too many people and not enough jobs.

10.) ¦(DISEASE)¦

an example of a disease or a person who has a disease

case of

▪ There are thousands of new cases of AIDS in Africa every year.

11.) in case of sth

used to describe what you should do in a particular situation, especially on official notices

▪ In case of fire, break the glass.

12.) ¦(GRAMMAR)¦ [U and C]

technical the way in which the form of a word changes, showing its relationship to other words in a sentence

▪ case endings

13.) be on sb's case informal

to be criticizing someone continuously

▪ Dad's always on my case about something or other.

14.) be on the case

spoken if someone says they are on the case, they know about a problem and are going to try to solve it

15.) get off my case

spoken used to tell someone to stop criticizing you or complaining about you

▪ OK, OK, just get off my case!

16.) ¦(PERSON)¦

someone who is being dealt with by a doctor, a ↑social worker, the police etc

→basket-case, ↑nutcase

→↑lower case,I rest my case at ↑rest² (9), ↑upper case

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GRAMMAR(just) in case

in case is followed by the simple present, the simple past, or 'should' : Write it down in case you forget (NOT in case you will forget). | I had a snack, just in case there was no time (NOT in case there would be no time) to eat later. | Here's a contact number, in case there should (NOT will/would) be a problem.

WORD CHOICE: in this case, in this respect

Do not use in this/that case to refer to a particular aspect of something. Use in this/that respect : He supports the death penalty, and in that respect (NOT in that case) I think he is wrong. | Computers can search for information much more quickly than humans, and in this respect (NOT in this case) they are more efficient.

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case ²

case² v [T]

1.) be cased in sth

to be completely surrounded by a material or substance

▪ The reactor will be cased in metal.

→↑casing

2.) case the joint informal

to look around a place that you intend to steal from in order to find out information