| 释义 |
▪ I. case, n.1|keɪs|
Forms: 3–5 cas, (4 cais, caice, cass), 4–5 caas, caace, 4–6 cace, kace, 6 Sc. caice, 4– case.
[ME. cās, caas, a. OF. cas in same sense:—L. cāsu-s, cassu-s fall, chance, occurrence, case, f. stem cas- of cadĕre to fall.]
I.
†1.
a. A thing that befalls or happens to any one; an event, occurrence, hap, or chance.
a1225Ancr. R. 340 Swuch cas and swuch auenture biti⁓með to summe monne. 1297R. Glouc. (1810) 24 Þar fore me clepude þat Water þo Homber..for þe cas Þat Homber..þer ynne a-dreynt was. c1314Guy Warw. (A.) 1698 In lasse while þan þat was Might falle mani wonder cas. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 592 The Erle off the leuenax was, I can nocht tell ȝow throw quhat cass, Lewyt behynd. c1384Chaucer H. Fame, 254 How Eneas tolde Dido every caas That hym was tyd upon the see. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 38 For doute of sodeyn Casys, which mowe fal to hym. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 26, I you recount a ruefull cace.
†b. A deed, a thing. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (1810) 282 Þys gode kyng and he dude þys gode cas. c1340Cursor M. 1497 (Fairf.) Quen caym had done þat sari cas [G. & T. dede, C. plight]. c1532Ld. Berners Huon clxiv. (1883) 646 Such a kyng traytoure that hathe done suche a case [ed. 1601 deede].
†2.
a. Chance, hazard, hap. Obs.
1340–70Alisaunder 24 Case fell, þat this Kyng Was with siknes of-sought. 1375Barbour Bruce ii. 24 He tauld hys brodyr halyly..how he chapyt wes throw cass. c1440Gesta Rom. lii. 230 (Harl. MS.) Fel cas, that ther was a knyȝt namid andronicus. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 237/3 And thus by caase of fortune..she toke the body of the prothomartir.
†b. Chiefly in phrases: by (be, bi) case, of case, on case, upon case = ‘perchance perhaps’; so percase.
1297R. Glouc. (1810) 140 Gorlois, erl of Cornewail, þerforþ com bi cas. c1340Ayenb. 70 And be cas hit is þet Salomon zayþ. c1375? Barbour St. Andreas 249 Syne eftir hapnyt of case. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 13 On cas [forsan] despised of envious men and proude. c1420Chron. Vilod. 220 Upon a day hit fell by case. 1513Douglas æneis i. vi. 99 The schippis that on caice war redy thair. 1560Rolland Crt. Venus i. 692 In argument I and that gentill man Fell heir on case.
3. a. An instance or example of the occurrence or existence of a thing (fact, circumstance, etc.).
a1300Cursor M. 26679 In þat case man most nede sceu quam wit he did þat foli. c1340Ayenb. 42 Þet hi ham loki uram þise zenne ine þri cas. c1400Apol. Loll. 79 In þis cas he schal not be cursid. c1449Pecock Repr. 243 In manye Caasis. 1581Marbeck Bk. Notes 297 The case shall bee this: My..neighbour..is so oppressed with povertie, that he is not able to paie. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xli. 265 In a certain case that rarely happens. 1769Junius Lett. xvi. 70 Some case or cases, strictly in point, must be produced. 1872Helps Anim. & Mast. i. (1875) 15 The most recent case within my knowledge.
b. An infatuation; a situation in which two people fall in love. So to have a case on: to be infatuated with or enamoured of. slang (orig. U.S.).
1852Harper's Mag. V. 338/2 Young America..voted it ‘a case’. The elderly ladies thought it a ‘shocking flirtation’. 1860Hotten Slang Dict. 112 Among young ladies at boarding-schools a case means a love affair. 1872M. E. Braddon To Bitter End III. xvii. 285 They have only been engaged three weeks; but from the day we first met Lord Stanmore..the business was settled. It was a ‘case’, as you fast young men say. 1893‘S. Grand’ Heavenly Twins I. ii. iv. 237 Edith..blushed. She could not reason about him... ‘That's a case, I think,’ said Mrs. Guthrie Brimston. 1928F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial iii. 73 Everybody knew they had a terrible case on each other. 1931Story-Teller Aug. 598/2 By the end of the second year the girls were saying that Salesby had quite a case on Chips. 1951M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vii. iii. 372 ‘I think it's a case all right.’..‘Yes,’ said Melissa. ‘She's lost to the world.’
4. a. the case: The actual state or position of matters; the fact. it is not the case: it is not the fact, it is not what actually is or happens.
c1400Destr. Troy 12025 Euen the couenand to kepe, as þe cas was, Þat bertat hom þe toun. 1463Bury Wills (1850) 29, I wil the seid iijs. iiijd. go therto, or part therof, as the case requireth. a1626Bacon (J.) Here was the case; an army of English, wasted and tired with a long winter's siege, engaged an army of a greater number than themselves..fresh and in vigour. 1650Jer. Taylor Holy Living (J.) He hath no need to use them, as the case now stands. 1758S. Hayward Serm. i. 4 This is the case not only with men of years, but with infants of a day old. 1830Macaulay Let. in Trevelyan Life II. vii. 8 The case with me is the reverse. 1888Sir L. W. Cave in Law Times Rep. LII. 627/2 A short consideration of the different sections will show that this is not the case.
b. A state of matters relating to a particular person or thing. in the case of: as regards (a specified thing or person); in that case: if that is true; if that should happen; that being so; similarly, in the first case, etc. Also in any case: whatever may happen, whatever the fact is (cf. 13); in many cases: in a number of instances; similarly, in some cases.
1393Gower Conf. III. 42 Delicacy in loves cas Withoute reson is and was. a1586Sidney (J.) Well do I find each man most wise in his own case. 1680Burnet Rochester (1692) 30 What sense this noble Lord had of their Case when he came at last seriously to reflect upon his own. 1711Addison Spect. No. 108 ⁋7 Will Wimble's is the Case of many a younger Brother of a great Family. 1726Gay Fables, Hare & many Friends 41 And when a lady's in the case, You know all other things give place. 1791J. Walker Pron. Dict. s.v. Medicinal, Poets..who have, and, perhaps, in some cases, ought to have, a language different from prose. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 178 But..he regarded the case of the Church of Rome as an exception to all ordinary rules. 1848Sporting Life 11 Mar. 23/1 ‘In that case,’ replied the guard, ‘I will go and fetch the steward myself.’ 1872Thudichum & Dupre Treatise on Wine xiii. 435 When he comes to his vineyard he finds his crop either eaten by the flies, or rotten, or over-ripe, and in any case yields him a lesser quantity or quality of wine. 1881Spons' Encycl. Industr. Arts IV. 1252 In many cases, flax-spinning establishments have weaving branches in connection with them. 1894Sweet Anglo-Saxon Reader (ed. 7) 227 The parts of speech are not marked in the case of adjectives, pronouns and weak verbs. 1896L. Fletcher Introd. Study Meteorites 36 In some cases the chondrules consist wholly or in great part of glass. 1909Beynon Drapery 76 ‘And if I can show you cheaper lines than you are buying, you won't buy?’ ‘No, I will not buy even in that case.’ 1912C. N. & A. M. Williamson Heather Moon ii. iii. 128 ‘It didn't seem to me there was anything romantic about Mr. Douglas, except his name.’ ‘In that case, you are a little flirt,’ said he. 1916E. W. Gregory Furnit. Collector 227 But in any case worm-eaten furniture is not at all desirable. 1921A. L. Simon Wine 59 In the first case, the wines are sent over here, as a rule two years after vintage. 1929Pinero in Eighteen-Seventies 133 The difficulties of great men are intensified in the case of little ones.
†c. all a case: all one. Obs.
1660Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. 341 He that swears by Heaven, or by the Earth, by the Temple, or by the Gold, it is all a case. 1666Bunyan Grace Ab. ⁋313 Believe or disbelieve me in this, all is as a case to me. a1704R. L'Estrange (J.) Taken or not taken, tis all a case to me.
5. a. Condition, state (of circumstances external or internal), plight. in good case: well off.sc
c1300K. Alis. 4428 With sweord ryden he dud amere In this strong fyghtyng cas, He mette with Dalmadas. 1482Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxlix. 319 Our enbassatours came home ageyne in werse caas than they wente. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. i. Wks. 1140/1 He..neuer leaueth his seruantes in case of a coumfortlesse Orphanes. 1535Coverdale Hosea iv. 3 Therfore shal the londe be in a miserable case. 1560Bible (Genev.) Gen. xl. 14 When thou art in good case show mercie unto me. 1611― Ex. v. 19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in euill case. 1614Raleigh Hist. World III. 80 Thereby leaving their old enemies in case of much contempt and disabilitie. 1693W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 315 In good case for estate, beatus. 1782Cowper Gilpin xlviii, But stop and eat, for well you may Be in a hungry case. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 281 And now I know not what virtue is, and you seem to be in the same case.
b. esp. Physical condition, as in good case (arch.); also simply, in case, out of case (? obs.). Also, esp. in U.S., spec. of tobacco.
1640in Archives of Maryland (1883) I. 98 Bad Tobacco shall be judged..[what is] sooty, wett, or in too high Case. 1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 60 Ordaines..that William keip the horss in good caice. 1660Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 121/1 By this means their Horses are the better in Case, but the worse for Service. 1674Diary of W. Cunningham (1887) 3 The houses are out of case. 1693W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 315 In good case for flesh, pinguis. 1704Swift Batt. Bks. (1711) 231 Their Horses large, but extreamely out of Case. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict., Jockey..one that brings Horses into Case. 1755Johnson s.v., In ludicrous language, In case is lusty or fat. 1800W. Tatham Cult. & Com. Tobacco 37 It must be stretched gently over the ends of the fingers and knuckles, and if it is in good case, i.e. plight, or condition, it will discover an elastic capacity. 1808Scott Marm. i. xxi, Our Norham vicar..Is all too well in case to ride. 1845Dodd Brit. Manuf. 132 An exposure to the air for..about five weeks makes the leaves of tobacco elastic and tough, and slightly covered with a glossy kind of moisture. The tobacco is then said to be in case. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin xii. 72 What he would sell for, if he was kept fat and in good case. 1865Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. 1863 V. 667 The fires should be suffered to go out, and the tobacco be suffered to come in case, or get soft again. 1944Dialect Notes Nov. 65 In case: adj. phr., in proper condition—cured and having the correct amount of moisture to ensure handling without injury or loss.
c. in case to or for: in a condition or position to or for; prepared, ready. arch.
[1461Paston Lett. 430 II. 77 Sche is in the cas to have the lyf in stede of damages.] 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxx. 157 We be nat in case to do any great dede of armes. 1610Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 29, I am in case to iustle a Constable. 1653H. Cogan Pinto's Trav. viii. §2. 23 When thou art in better case to hear me I will tell thee. 1663Butler Hud. i. iii. 745 Quoth Ralph, I should not, if I were In Case for Action, now be here. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 70 Even if they escaped hanging for that exploit, I should greatly doubt their being in case to attempt another. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VII. xviii. ix. 261 Breslau; which is in no case to resist and be bombarded.
6. Law. ‘The state of facts juridically considered’ (J.).
a. A cause or suit brought into court for decision.
b. A statement of the facts of any matter sub judice, drawn up for the consideration of a higher court.
c. A cause which has been decided: leading case, one that has settled some important point and is frequently cited as a precedent.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxvi. 510 The pope gaue the duke full puyssance..reseruyng certayne cases papall, the which he myght nat gyue. 1552Huloet s.v. Preiudice, As the ruled cases and matters of the lawe be called boke⁓cases. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 108 Why might not that bee the Scull of a Lawyer? Where be his Quiddits now? his Quillets? his Cases? 1621–31Laud Serm. (1847) 204 This..is a great leading case for Kings. 1689Tryal Bps. 26 This being a Case of the greatest Consequence, peradventure, that ever was in the Westminster Hall. 1710Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 42 Precedents and judged Cases have ever had the like authority. 1863H. Cox Instit. ii. ix. 524 If the justices refuse to state a case, application may be made to the Queen's Bench for a rule commanding them to do so. 1877(title) Leading Cases done into English. 1886Daily News 17 July 2/1 There is a very strong Bar engaged in the case.
d. The case as presented or ‘put’ to the Court by one of the parties in a suit; hence, the sum of the grounds on which he rests his claim. Also fig. as in to make out one's case, a case.
[1375Barbour Bruce i. 52 And othir sum nyt all that cass And said that he thair king suld be That war in als ner degre.] 1596Drayton Legends iv. 40 My doubtfull Case to plead. 16022nd Pt. Returne fr. Pernass. iv. ii. 1647 Till at length, per varios casus, by putting the case so often, they make their client so lanke, that, etc. 1660Jer. Taylor Worthy Commun. Introd. 7 This is a breviate of our case. 1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xvi. 391 Shakespeare has made out a strong case for Shylock. 1883Law Times 20 Oct 407/2 A litigant without a case. 1885Law Rep. 29 Chanc. Div. 452 If he abandoned the point it must be assumed that he had no case. Mod. This concluded the case for the prosecution. ‘That is our case, my lord.’
e. A form of procedure in the Common Law: see quots. Obs. in England.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 42. 1591 Lambarde Arch. (1635) 61 Suits at the Common Law, for remedie in Cases, where no proper helpe was formerly knowne..called the Action or Writ upon the Case. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. (1617) 656 We should shortly have no actions upon the case, nor of trespass, but all should be pleas of the crown. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (1886) 77 The plaintiff had brought an action of the case against Rickby. 1768Blackstone iii. 122 Action upon the case, This action of trespass, or trangression, on the case, is an universal remedy given for all personal wrongs and injuries without force..so called because the plaintiff's whole case or cause of complaint is set forth at length in the original writ. 1863H. Cox Instit. ii. ix. 523 Action of trespass on the Case, so called from the words in consimili casu..in the Statute of Westminster the Second, which authorizes such actions..Injuries caused by negligence are usually remediable by action on the case.
f. An incident or set of circumstances requiring investigation by the police or other detective agency.
1838C. Rowan in Parl. Papers 1837–8 XV. 359 The constable who..has been successful..in pursuing the case, is rewarded. 1878A. K. Green (title) The Leavenworth case. 1926G. Dilnot Story of Scotland Yard xxxiv. 284 Finger-prints are only of incidental use in the solution of a mystery... Nevertheless, it was on a case of murder that Scotland Yard scored its first spectacular triumph with the new system. 1930D. L. Sayers Strong Poison ii. 35 Consider the circumstances of the case as a whole, and say what conclusion you have come to. 1959L. Lee Cider with Rosie 116 The police left at last with the case unsolved. 1978in D. B. Hughes Erle Stanley Gardner xxix. 295 By February 14 [1969], Erle was writing Larry that The Case of the Careless Corpse was dictated and transcribed.
7. case of conscience: A practical question concerning which conscience may be in doubt; a question as to the application of recognized principles of faith and obedience to one's duty in a particular case or set of circumstances.
A transl. of L. casus conscientiæ (F. cas de conscience), according to Ames (1576–1633), ‘called casus, because it is wont to happen or occur (cadere) in life; and casus conscientiæ, because when it happens, conscience ought to give a judgement with the greatest carefulness’. These cases or questions are divided into two classes, (1) those which concern a man's state before God, (2) those which concern his actions in that state. It is mainly to the second of these, or cases of conduct, that casuistry is understood to refer.
[a1400Astexanus Summa de casibus Conscientiæ (1469).] 1592W. Perkins (title), A Case of Conscience, the greatest that euer was; How a Man may knowe whether he be the Child of God or no: resolued by the Worde of God. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxv. §21 In this part I commend much the deducing of the law of God to cases of conscience. [1655in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 309 IV. 5 note, He [Cromwell] hoped..to have had some clearing of the Case as to his conscience: but instead of that they had made the matter more doubtful..than it was before. ]1660Jer. Taylor (title), Ductor Dubitantium; or the Rule of Conscience in all her general measures; serving as a great instrument for the determination of cases of conscience. 1851Robertson Serm. Ser. iv. xii. I. 81 This epistle [1st to Corinthians] is one of Christian Casuistry, or the application of Christian principles to the various circumstances and cases of conscience which arise continually in the daily life of a highly..artificial community.
8. Med.
a. The condition of disease in a person.
1709Tatler No. 121 ⁋1 It is the general fault of physicians, they are so in haste, that they never hear out the case. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §9 A patient must have full liberty to explain his case, and tell all his symptoms. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 441 The fourteen doctors who deliberated on the king's case.
b. An instance of disease, or other condition requiring medical treatment; ‘a record of the progress of disease in an individual’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). Also (colloq.), a patient.
1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 256 [They] are hurtful in Cases where the Blood is too much dissolv'd. 1758Gooch (title), Cases and Practical Remarks in Surgery. 1804Abernethy Surg. Observ. (title), A classification of Tumours, with cases to illustrate the history of each species. 1851Dixon W. Penn xxiii. (1872) 207 At Deal they shipped a case of small-pox. 1864C. M. Yonge Trial II. 325 Nothing else could teach him that patients are not cases but persons. 1881Brit. Med. Jrnl. 18 June, About two hundred cases of ulcerated legs pass through my wards annually. 1940N. Mitford Pigeon Pie xiii. 197 Heatherley and Winthrop..would not be able to leave the Treatment Room for a moment, except to carry ‘cases’ upstairs to the Hospital.
c. U.S. slang. of persons: A ‘specimen’, ‘cure’.
1848–60Bartlett Dict. Amer., Case, a character, a queer one; as ‘That Sol Haddock is a case’. ‘What a hard case he is’, meaning a reckless scapegrace, mauvais sujet. 1884P. Roe in Harper's Mag. May 922/2 There was a little wheat in all that chaff of a man..But the wife is a case.
9. Grammar. [L. cāsus used to translate Gr. πτῶσις lit. ‘falling, fall’.
By Aristotle πτῶσις was applied to any derived, inflected, or extended form of the simple ὄνοµα or ῥῆµα (i.e. the nominative of nouns, the present indicative of verbs), such as the oblique cases of nouns, the variations of adjectives due to gender and comparison, also the derived adverb (e.g. δικαίως was a πτῶσις of δίκαιος), the other tenses and moods of the verb, including also its interrogative form. The grammarians, following the Stoics, restricted πτῶσις to nouns, and included the nominative under the designation.]
a. In inflected languages, one of the varied forms of a substantive, adjective, or pronoun, which express the varied relations in which it may stand to some other word in the sentence, e.g. as subject or object of a verb, attribute to another noun, object of a preposition, etc.
b. But as many modern languages have nearly or quite lost these variations of form, case is sometimes loosely used for the relation itself, whether indicated by distinct form or not.
Thus, by a mixture of the two notions, in modern English, substantives are commonly said to have three cases, nominative, objective, and possessive; the two former being merely relations, and the latter entirely formal; in modern French to have two (or three) cases, cas-sujet and cas-régime (the latter subdivided into direct and indirect), which are in the noun merely relations, while of the pronouns some retain only one case-form, some have four (e.g. ils, les, leur, eux). Thus also, in quot. 1824, ‘nominative’ case is loosely used for subject.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 339 [As] adiectif and substantyf vnite asken Acordaunce in kynde in cas and in numbre. c1440Gesta Rom. xci. 416 (Add. MS.) And so we han the nominatif case. 1530Palsgr. Introd. 30 But thre cases, nominatyve, accusatyve and oblique as je, me, moy. 1581Sidney Def. Poesie (Arb.) 70 Those cumbersome differences of Cases, Genders, Moodes, and Tenses. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. i. 46 Well: what is your Accusatiue-case? 1612Brinsley Pos. Parts (1669) 5 What is a Case? Every severall ending of a Noun in the declining of it. 1751Harris Hermes ii. iii. (1786) 273 Whatever we may be told of Cases in modern Languages, there are in fact no such things. 1824L. Murray Gram. I. 341 To err, is the infinitive mood, and the nominative case to the verb ‘is’. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. viii. 965 A complete list Of the prepositions each with proper case.
II. Phrases.
†10. in case:
a. in the event, in fact (cf. 3). (See also 5, 5 b, for a different sense.)
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 228 For more may hit in cas ȝou menske þan greue. c1384Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 377 In veyn preyers of ypocrites, þat in caas ben dampned devels. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. xiv. 231 Thouȝ in caas it can not be founde speciali witnessid bi Holi Scripture. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 Except in case whan you vnderstande not yt ye rede therin. 1629W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. 75.
b. as conjunction (with sentence): in the event or contingency that, if it should prove or happen that, if. in case, esp. in just in case, orig. with aposiopesis, in case ―, to indicate an unspecified apprehension of accident.
c1400Mandeville xviii. 191 In cas that he had ony Werre aȝenst ony other Kyng aboute him. 1418E.E. Wills 25 Yn case I deye. 1554Philpot Exam. & Writ. (1842) 327 In case one sudden chance..had not interrupted me. 1596Spenser State Irel. 12, I would tell you in case you would not challenge me anon. 1646Fuller Wounded Consc. (1841) 324 In case his leg be set, he flings, flounces..unjointing it again by his misemployed mettle. 1863P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 195 To be in readiness in case anything should happen to the present Board of Admiralty. 1864D. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 76 In case his papers were not all right. 1898Kipling Fleet in Being 28 One leg over the edge of the bunk—in case. 1929Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking ix. 301 She rather thought she wouldn't be able to, but she said leave her ticket at the box-office in case. 1951Teazle's News-Let. 24 Apr. [5] A picture..of a London policeman directing the traffic at a busy point in Paris, with a French traffic constable standing by, just in case.
c. lest, in provision against the case that.
1588A. King Canisius' Catech. 152 Thou sall pay him the price of his labour..incaice he cry to God agains the. Mod. Take your umbrella, in case it should rain.
d. in case of: in the event of.
1736Butler Anal. i. iii. 70 Obnoxious to it [punishment] in case of a discovery. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 65 All the Ships had Orders..in case of not meeting there, to make the best of their way to Macao. 1832W. Irving Alhambra I. 90 More apt to trust to the length of his legs than the strength of his arms, in case of attack.
†11. if case be that: if it should prove or happen that, if perchance. So if case. Obs.
1535Coverdale Job xxxi. 38 But yf case be that my londe crie agaynst me. ― Jer. xxxviii. 17 Yf case be, that thou wilt go forth vnto the kynge off Babilons prynces. 1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., It ought nat to be applyed, but yf case be that the pacyente were faynte herted. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. iv. 34 If case some one of you would flye from vs. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. (N.) If case a begger be old, weake or ill.
12. to put or set the case, formerly to put or set case (that): to propound a hypothetical instance or illustration, to suppose.
c1400Destr. Troy 2932 With Sossyngs, & Sotelte, Settyng of cases. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1058, I putte cas..Thow were yfalle in indigent povert. c1440Gesta Rom. iv. 10 (Harl MS.), I sette cas, þat a thefe make an hole in a hous. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 142/2 Let vs put the case that nothing is sought for. 1654Jer. Taylor Real Pres. Ep. Ded., Put case the Turke should invade Italy. 1751Jortin Serm. (1771) III. 39 Either there is a future state, or there is not. Put the case that there is not. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xxxv, O me, what profits it to put An idle case?
13. in any case: by any means (obs.); at all events, anyhow. in († by, † for) no case: by no means (? obs. in this sense).
a1400–50Alexander 1362 How he miȝt couir in any cas to come to þe cite. Ibid. 2350 Þat þai suld corde be na cas vnto þe kingis hestis. c1440Ipomydon 355 But she kowde wete for no case Whens he come ne what he was. 1577B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 12 b, Varro wyll in any case have two courtes. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. ii. 25 Let not Harry know In any case, the offer of the King. 1611Bible Matt. v. 20 Yee shall in no case enter into the kingdome of heauen. Mod. In any case you had better hear what he has to say.
III. 14. Comb., as (sense 9) case-distinction, case-ending, case-form, case-function, case-system; case-book, a book containing an account of legal or medical cases; also transf., fig. and attrib.; case conference, a meeting of professionals (such as doctors, teachers, social workers, etc.) to discuss the case of a particular individual or family in their care; † case-divinity, casuistry; case-form Gram., a morphological variant (of a noun, adjective, pronoun, etc.) that indicates its case by its form; case frame Linguistics, in case grammar: the underlying set of semantic and syntactic relationships linking the verb with the nominal phrases of the sentence at the level of deep structure; case grammar Linguistics, a version of transformational grammar in which case relationships are used to describe the semantic deep structure of sentences; case-history, the record of a person's origins, personal history, etc., orig. Med., compiled for diagnostic or other purposes and comprising all matters relevant to an episode of illness in a patient; in extended use, any brief conspectus of individual development, cf. life-history; case-law, the law settled by decided cases; case-load, the total number of cases that a doctor, social worker, probation officer, or other professional person or agency, is concerned with at any one time; case-phrase Gram., a phrase expressing a relation by means of a preposition and a noun instead of the bare case-form of the noun; † case-putter, one who puts cases or the (legal) case; so † case-putting, stating of a legal case, the making of hypotheses; case-sheet Med., a document giving a patient's clinical history; also transf.; case-study, the attempt to understand a particular person, institution, society, etc., by assembling information about his or its development; the record of such an attempt.
1762Canning in Poet. Register (1807) 459 Now adieu, my friend Jacob—I'll close up my *case-book. 1862Burton Bk.-hunter ii. 129, I know not whether ‘lay gents’..can feel any pleasure in wandering over the case-books. 1934Webster, Casebook, a compilation of detailed information concerning actual cases, legal, medical, psychological, economic, etc., for reference and study. 1949E. Coxhead Wind in West iv. 102 They sat discussing the literature of the passions, but let somebody present them with..a case-book page and..they all thought fit to take offence. 1953Proc. Prehist. Soc. XIX. 129 This paper is a small selection from our ‘case-book’ in the Department of Environmental Archaeology. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. 457/3 The first pages are casebook reportage; then there appears to be an attempt at a symbolist dimension.
1954Brit. Med. Jrnl. 16 Jan. 116/2 Each course lasted for a term and consisted of weekly *case conferences of two hours each. 1977Economist 24 Sept. 140/2 Staff..allowed her to follow them as they went about their work..and to be present at case conferences. 1986Professional Teacher Summer 3/3 There is consultation time, involving attendance at staff meetings, department meetings, pastoral discussions, case conferences and parent consultations.
1894Jespersen Progress in Lang. 31 The doing away with the old *case distinctions in English has facilitated many extremely convenient idioms. 1934Priebsch & Collinson German Lang. 153 The loss of case-distinctions..becomes still more marked in M.H.G.
1628Bp. Hall Righteous Mamm. 721 That which law and *case-diuinity speakes of life. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. x. 90 In Case-divinity Protestants are defective.
1874Sayce Compar. Philol. vii. 286 The so called *case-ending in -a.
1875Whitney Life Lang. iii. 41 A *case-form of a compounded adjective. 1922Jespersen Lang. xviii. 345 English shows that a small number of case forms is not incompatible with perfect clearness and perspicuity. 1951R. H. Robins Anc. & Med. Gram. Theory i. 34 The most systematic semantic analysis of case-forms in antiquity is by the Byzantine scholar, Maximus Planudes.
1968C. J. Fillmore in Bach & Harms Universals in Linguistic Theory 27 The insertion of verbs..depends on the particular array of cases, the ‘*case frame’, provided by the sentence. 1978Language LIV. 87 His choice of the case-frame ‘object’ rather than the category ‘noun’ was necessary, because several nouns may be associated with a verb, but it is only the object noun which retains a consistent..ordering with the verb. 1984Fremdsprachen XXVIII. 84 One could suggest particular case-frames for particular types of verbs.
1894Jespersen Progress in Lang. 161 The apostrophe was at that time used (without any regard to *case-function) where a syllable was added in pronunciation.
1968C. J. Fillmore in Bach & Harms Universals in Linguistic Theory 88 One criticism of *case grammar..is that it is too strongly motivated by semantic considerations. 1977Language LIII. 493/2 The long expositions of case grammar (146–70) and performative analysis (Ch. 9) seem completely out of place. Neither concept has been generally accepted by linguists, and their value in an introductory text is dubious. 1984Fremdsprachen XXVIII. 19, I propose to show how a knowledge of some aspects of case grammar may be useful to the translator.
1912Lancet 2 Mar. 589/2 (title) *Case Histories in Neurology. 1931E. Wilson Axel's Castle v. 185 Is he telling us his own case-history with symbols? 1934C. Day Lewis Hope for Poetry iv. 18 A very instructive entry in the case-history of poetic feeling. 1935Woodworth Psychol. (ed. 10) ii. 23 Reconstructing the individual's history..from his memory, the memories of his acquaintances... This case history method has obvious disadvantages. 1945‘L. Lewis’ Birthday Murder (1951) iii. 40 A good many of our friends were case histories. They belonged in a textbook on mildly abnormal psychology. 1958Engineering 14 Mar. 346/3 This practice of giving applications in the form of case histories is now common in the industrial engineering field.
1861Maine Anc. Law (1870) 13 English *case-law is sometimes spoken of as unwritten. 1871W. Markby Elem. Law (1885) 58 English case law does for us what the Roman law does for the rest of Western Europe. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 153/1 The unwieldy mass of case-law which now cumbers every practitioner's shelves.
1950C. Morris Social Case-work in Gt. Brit. ii. 51 Pseudo-cases are soon dropped from the *caseload. 1961R. Kee Refugee World 1 The..human beings who are the refugees are lumped together into the ‘case-load’. 1961‘C. H. Rolph’ Crime & Punishment x. 158 It used to be thought that the maximum ‘case-load’ a good probation officer could carry was about fifty.
1911Rep. Joint Comm. Gram. Terminol. 27 Recommendations... That in English and French the combination of a Preposition with a Noun or Pronoun may be called a *Case-phrase. 1927E. A. Sonnenschein Soul of Gram. 44 In Indo-European the case-system was supplemented..by..the case-phrase system.
1681Otway Soldier's Fort. ii. i, He's a tatter'd worm-eaten *case-putter; some call him Lawyer.
1645Milton Tetrach. (1851) 159 Some heroick magistrat, whose mind..dares lead him both to know and to do without their frivolous *case-putting. 1687R. L'Estrange Answ. Diss. 21 The Case-putting-Humour goes on still too; though the Author succeeds no Better in his Third Supposition.
1925W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xxviii. 273 A few words had been written in haste on the back of a *case-sheet. 1958Listener 16 Oct. 621/2 What we saw was the case sheet of Sinforth.
1933Proc. Brit. Acad. XVIII. 371 His [sc. Kenny's] ideas as to the value of *case-study fitted neatly into his general conception of English legal education. 1940Woodworth Psychol. (ed. 12) v. 162 Those who are professionally concerned in judging personality..depend largely on the interview and the inclusive procedure known as the case study. 1956Planning XXII. 148 It is intended to illustrate the findings by brief case-studies of industries, firms, or products. 1959Listener 29 Oct. 744/3 A shrewd and stimulating case-study of the Lancashire election of 1868.
1875Whitney Life & Growth of Lang. vi. 107 The downfall of the *case-system was accompanied by the uprise of the class of prepositions. 1953W. J. Entwistle Aspects of Lang. xi. 349 The Caucasian languages develop the case system up to twenty-three places.
▸ on the case a. Actively engaged in an investigation, originally spec. a criminal investigation (cf. sense 6); in active pursuit.
1937E. Pound Fifth Decad Cantos xlvi. 33 Seventeen years on the case; here Gents, is/are the confession. ‘Can we take this into court? Will any jury convict on this evidence?’ 1971O. Acosta Let. Oct. in H. S. Thompson Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 445 They've put one of the heavy D.A.'s on the case and he started in on me right away. 1999J. Boyle Hero of Underworld 70 Farm it out, my arse. I want you on the case immediately.
b. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Aware of, alert to, or actively dealing with a particular situation or task; (more broadly) capable, prepared, and alert; well-informed. Also: on hand, esp. in readiness.
1971D. Goines Dopefiend 153 Don't let your fingers get too sticky..'cause I'll be right there on the case. 1980H. Gould Fort Apache, Bronx (film script) 41 Rest?.. Shit, I don't need no rest, I'm on the case. 1987T. Wolfe Bonfire of Vanities (1988) 4 Tell 'im, bro... Y'on the case... Yo, Gober! 1992J. Peters & J. Nichol Tornado Down (1993) xii. 94, I was already on the case, and as he finished speaking the wings finally did roll out level. 1998E. Brimson Hooligan xv. 41 We all have to be on the case so don't get too shit-faced. Anyone that's pissed ain't coming, right?
▸ colloq. (orig. U.S.). a. to get off a person's case: to leave a person in peace; esp. to stop criticizing or harassing a person. Usually in imper., as get off my case!
1971E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 88 Get off my case, expression meaning leave me alone. 1977C. McFadden Serial (1978) vii. 20/2 ‘It's Michael's,’ she said. ‘Anita's new old man. And get off my case.’ 1990R. Doyle Snapper (1993) 174 Was she in pain, he asked her. The fuckin' eejit; she'd give him pain if he didn't get off her case. 1997A. Wood EastEnders (BBC TV Script) Episode 575. 21 Get off my case will you? I know what I'm doing.
b. to be on a person's case and variants: to criticize or reprove a person, esp. repeatedly; to harass or annoy someone.
1971H. Roberts Third Ear 5/2 Don't get on my case. 1982W. L. Heat Moon Blue Highways vii. xvi. 298 Some people have gotten on my case because of a rumor that I posed for it. 1988Star (Tarrytown, N.Y.) 12 a 8/2 You've got the boat, the bike and the expensive tools, but if she so much as looks at that fur jacket in the window, you're on her case. 1993Globe & Mail (Toronto) 1 Feb. c 3/2 Her mother..is seriously on her case, her boyfriend ditches her, a blind date fails to show. 1999Odds On Feb. 3/2 The tabloids are on her case full time.
▸ case management n. the coordinated course of action determined for a particular person's medical care, social support, etc.; the organized implementation of such a programme.
1918L. K. Frankel & L. I. Dublin in Publ. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 16 61 The programme consisted of strict application to such important matters as..educating visiting nurses in *case management. 1968Clin. Pediatrics 6 50/2 In addition to the methods of case management already described, 24 of the 70 students with school achievements problems were tutored. 1996Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 25 June 1 Under previous plans, benefits were scaled back for those recipients who found work in proportion to what they earned. The new program also requires intensive individual case management.
▸ case manager n. a person such as a doctor, nurse, or social worker who is assigned to coordinate and monitor the care or support of a particular individual; cf. earlier case management n. at Additions.
1969W. Polanka in Hosp. & Community Psychiatry 20 94/1 Our first step was to assign the patients among the members of the unit team, whom we designated *case managers... The case manager is required to spend at least half an hour a day with each of his assigned patients, whether in an interview, on a walk, or in some other activity. 1980A. Kadushin Child Welfare Services (ed. 3) v. 222 The basic team includes a social worker, a physician, a psychiatrist or psychologist, and a team coordinator or case manager. 1996Daily Tel. 25 June 2/2 The tailor-made employment service, where each job seeker has an individual career plan and personalised case manager, comes from ideas borrowed from Australia and California.
▪ II. case, n.2|keɪs|
Forms: 4– case; also 4 cas, caas, kase, 4–6 cass, 5 kace, 5–6 casse, 6 (Sc.) cais.
[a. ONF. casse, in central OF. chasce, chasse, mod.F. châsse (= It. cassa):—L. capsa case, receptacle, f. cap-ĕre to take, hold.]
1. a. A thing fitted to contain or enclose something else; a receptacle or holder; a box, chest, bag, sheath, covering, etc.; spec. in very early use (as in OF.) a reliquary.
a1300Cursor M. 21617 And ilk paskes..wit-vten case..þis cros was men þan wont to se. 1375Barbour Bruce xx. 304 Ane cass of siluir fyne. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1500 The arwes in the caas. 1398Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. xvii. cxxvi. (1495) 686 Of russhes ben made..cuppys and casses and baskettes to kepe in lettres and other thynges. c1440Promp. Parv. 269/1 Kace, or casse for pynnys, capcella. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 351 The Case of a Treble Hoeboy was a Mansion for him. a1639Wotton (J.), A fair case for books. 1859Tennyson Elaine 973 Full meekly rose the maid, Stript off the case, and gave the naked shield. 1872E. Yates Castaway I. 12 (Hoppe) Lighting a cigar and handing his case to his friend.
b. with various substantives or adjs. indicating special use or purpose; e.g. book-case, card-case, cigar-case, etc. (for which see their first element).
1382Wyclif Isa. xxii. 6 And Elam toc an arewe caas. 1552–3Inv. Ch. Goods Staffs. 46 Ij corporas casys of sylke with ij corporases. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 45 A paire of bootes that haue beene candle-cases. Mod. A collector of plants with his botanical case.
c. A box or frame in which choice or delicate plants are grown, e.g. fern-case, Wardian case.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 205 The least size of Cases ought to be of sixteen Inches..supported from the Ground with Knobs or Feet four Inches. 1704Worlidge Dict. Rust. et Urb. s.v. Fir, Sow the Seeds in Beds or Cases..during March. 1842Tennyson Amphion xi, Squares of tropic summer shut And warm'd in crystal cases.
d. U.S. In the game of faro, the fourth card of a denomination, when the other three have been taken from the dealing-box. So to keep cases: to note the cards as they come from the dealing-box; also transf., to keep a close watch (on). Also, to come (or get) down to cases (chiefly U.S.): to come to the point.
1856Harper's Mag. Dec. 69/1 He has no great faith in ‘cases’, but believes in betting on three cards at a time. [1856San Francisco Bull. 4 Dec. 2/2 He was sitting in front, keeping the ‘cases’.] 1896G. Ade Artie iii. 24 A Johnny-on-the-spot..was tryin' to keep cases on her. Ibid. xi. 103 When it comes down to cases they're just as good as a lot of people that make a bigger front. 1902O. V. Limerick B. Burgundy's Opinions 58 To get right down to cases, she was a human-four-card-flush. 1903A. Adams Log of Cowboy xiii. 199 We found Quince Forrest and Wyatt Roundtree playing the faro bank, the former keeping cases. 1918Mulford Man fr. Bar-20 ii. 21 Comin' down to cases, you ain't really a cow-puncher. 1920― J. Nelson xiv. 144 I'm keepin' cases on these cattle. 1937Runyon More than Somewhat i. 7 It takes him some time to get down to cases and tell me what is eating him.
2. a. The outer protective or covering part of anything, as the case of a watch, a fire-work, a sausage; a natural outer covering, sheath, or receptacle; e.g. a seed-vessel, the ‘case’ of a pupa or chrysalis, of a case-worm, etc.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xl. (1495) 155 The blood sholde be brent but yf the superfluyte therof had place within the caas of the galle. 1605Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 147 Lear. Read. Glou. What, with the Case of eyes? 1611― Wint. T. v. ii. 14. 1605 Timme Quersit. iii. 178 All the kindes of poppey, with their cases which containe the seed. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. xxvii. 206 We took a Watch, whose Case we open'd. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 89 This Insect leaves two Coats..in the Theca or Case. 1691Ray Creation (J.), Other caterpillars produced maggots, that immediately made themselves up in cases. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. vi. 70 This solid case of nine-foot ice. 1870Emerson Soc. & Solit. Wks. (Bohn) III. 41 The care which covers the seed of the tree under tough husks and stony cases.
b. So in comb., as clock-case, pillow-case, watch-case; seed-case, pupa-case: see clock, etc.
1848C. A. Johns Wk. at Lizard 298 The unusual hardness of the seed-case.
c. spec.
1869Eng. Mech. 24 Dec. 354/1 Galls are of two kinds, called respectively galls and cases. Galls are more or less solid or ligneous, and contain one insect. Cases are hollow and horny, comprising a colony of insects.
d. book-binding case (= book case.) The boards and back, cloth-covered or otherwise, in which books are ‘cased’ or ‘bound in cloth’, and which are often prepared and issued to the public for the annual volumes of magazines, etc. Also a cover of a similar kind made to hold separate pamphlets, etc., without binding, so that they can be arranged among books in a library.
1868E. Arber (Prospectus of Eng. Reprints), Handsome cases, in best roan and cloth, Roxburghe style, to contain six of the ‘Reprints’. One shilling each. Mod. Cloth cases, gilt-lettered, for binding the volume will be issued with the December number.
3. fig.
a. The body (as enclosing the soul, etc.).
1547–64Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) ii. 6 The body..the case & sepulchre of the soule. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xv. 89 This case of that huge Spirit now is cold. 1883J. Gilmour Mongols xviii. 214 The body is merely the case or shell in which the soul lives.
†b. The exterior (of a man). Obs.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. viii. i. §26 On the inside thereof walked the proper case of a man well habited.
†4.
a. The skin or hide of an animal. Obs.
a1569A. Kingsmill Man's Est. vi. (1580) 31 Every mans skinne is the case of a sinner. 1575Turberv. Venerie lxxii. 198 His [Raynard's] case will serue to fur the cape of master huntsmans gowne. 1633Costlie Whore ii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, For Hares and Asses weare the lion's case. 1704Worlidge Dict. Rust. et Urb. s.v. Wild-Cat, Tho her case be not so good as that of the Martern, yet it is very warm.
b. Applied to clothes or garments. Obs.
1593Nashe Christ's T. 73 b, Our garments (which are cases and couers for our bodies). 15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. i. 370 Then he steps, and bringes out Signior Barbarisme in a case of nightcapps, in a case of headpeeces all-to-be-wrought. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. xi. §21 [Samson] bestowed their corps on the earth, and their cases on their fellow countrymen. 1667Dryden Ind. Emperor ii. ii, A Man of bearded Face, His Limbs all cover'd with a shining Case.
5. The frame in which a door or window is set; cf. stair-case.
1663Gerbier Counsel (1664) 44 That doore cases..be made as high again as they are wide, and so must well proportioned window cases be. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xiv. 248, I made a formal framed door-case, and a door to it of boards. 1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 25 Affixed to the outer door-case. 1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Case of a Stair, the wall surrounding a staircase.
6. a. ‘The outer part of a house or building’ (J.); the shell or carcass.
1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. iii. 75 That case or Sceleton of the World. Ibid. 76 The case or Fabrick of the House. 1704Worlidge Dict. Rust. et Urb. s.v. Oak, The rough-grain'd body of a stubbed Oak, is fittest for the Case of a Cyder-Mill, and such Engines. 1704Addison Italy 147 The Case of the Holy House is nobly design'd. 1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Case..is also a term used to denote the carcass of a house.
b. Masonry. ‘An outside facing of a building, of material superior to that of the backing’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1874).
c. In the following some have suggested influence of It. casa house. Also, a brothel.
1536R. Copland Hye Way to Spyttell Hous Eiii, Toure the patryng coue in the darkman cace. a1678Marvell Wks. (1875) III. 497 A net..That Charles himself might chase To Caresbrook's narrow case. 1690B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Case, a House, Shop, or Warehouse. 1699B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Case,..also a Bawdy-house. 1730–6Bailey, Case..a house where thieves, pick⁓pockets, whores, house-breakers, highway-men, and all the loose, idle, furacious crew meet and drink..and revel. 1821P. Egan Life in London ii. ii. 177 In the motley group are several Coves of Cases and procuresses... The proprietors of houses of ill-fame. 1905A. M. Binstead Mop Fair viii. 135 They arranges to stop ‘private’ in Brighton, at a little case in Black Lion Street where Tom Reeder annually took his old woman every August. 1931Police Jrnl. Oct. 501 Whilst he was sleeping (kipping), she told a detective (bogey) she knew that Jack was in the brothel (case). 1942A. Gardner Lower Underworld xx. 58 It's used as a case, you see, by some of the girls.
7. a. A box or chest with its proper contents; often of definite character (e.g. a case of surgical instruments, a dressing-case); or of determinate quantity, as a case of glass. † case of drawers: chest of drawers (obs.).
1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, xiv, For euery case of veluet conteinyng xiiii. pieces of veluet v.s. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2118/4 Looking-Glasses, Screwtores, Cases of Drawers. 1704Worlidge Dict. Rust. et Urb., Case; this of Normandy-Glass is 120 Foot. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 58 Cases of Spanish Brandies and Wines. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 556 Cases of arms from Holland. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 217 Nail set cases, dressing cases..work cases, writing cases.
b. Hence (or from 8), a set.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. ii. 5 The knocks are too hot: and for mine owne part, I haue not a Case of Liues. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. xvii, Cicely..displayed a case of teeth which might have rivalled ivory.
8. a. a case of pistols (dags): a couple, brace. So † a case of rapiers. Also transf. A brace, a pair.
1579Lanc. Wills (1860) II. 126 One case of pystolles..a case [of] dagges. c1590Marlowe Faust vi, I have run up and down the world with this case of rapiers. 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. Pref. 82 An inseparable case of coxcombs, city-borne; The Gemini or Twins of foppery. 1667Earl of Orrery State Lett. (1743) II. 118 A hundred case of pistols. 1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 304 [He] discharged in the act a case of pistols.
†b. ? One of a pair, the fellow to another.
1623Fletcher Maid of Mill ii. ii, The other is the case of this.
9. Printing. The receptacle or frame in which the compositor has his types, divided into compartments for the various letters, figures, and spaces.
In ordinary printing the compositor has two such cases before him on a slanting stand, the upper case containing the capitals, etc., the lower the small letters, ordinary spaces, etc.
1588Marprel. Ep. (Arb.) 22 His Letters melted, with cases and other tooles defaced. 1637Decree Star Chamb. 11 July §23 That no Master-printer shall imploy either to worke at the Case, or the Presse [any but Freemen]. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. i. 9 The compositor is materially retarded by moving from one case to another. 1880Printing Trades Jrnl. No. 32. 25 Many eminent journalists began life at a compositor's case.
10. Mil. Short for case-shot.
1667Lond. Gaz. No. 160/4 Being all laden below with double and barrs, and above with Case and Baggs. 1810Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. VI. 151 Let there be 20 rounds of Case for each gun. 1879Athenæum 1 Nov. 556/3 The fire of case from the Russian batteries.
11. Mining. (see quot.)
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Case, a small fissure, admitting water into the workings.
12. Comb., as case-maker, case-plant, case-spring, case-tree, case-wing; case-bay, in Building (see quot.); case-house slang, a brothel; case-keeper, (a) U.S., one who ‘keeps cases’ in faro (see 1 d); the device used for this purpose; (b) a brothel-keeper; case-man (Printing), one who works at the case, a compositor; case-oil, oil or other petroleum products transported in containers packed in wooden cases; case paper, ? a corruption of casse-paper; † case-pepper, a species of Capsicum (prob. C. baccatum); case-rack, the wooden frame in which printers' cases are kept; case-room, the compositors' room; case-work, ‘a book glued on the back and stuck into a ‘case’ previously prepared’ (Knight). Also case-bottle, -worm, etc.
1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss., *Case Bays, the joists framed between a pair of girders in naked flooring..The extent of the case-bays should not exceed ten feet.
1912C. Mackenzie Carnival xxx. 322 You don't suppose I'd go on living in what's no better than a common *case-house. 1924M. Kennedy Constant Nymph viii. 118, I wonder at you for bringing the young lady here, for it's nothing better than a dirty case-house.
1867Terr. Enterprise (Virginia, Nevada) 18 Aug. 3/1 A ‘*case keeper’..at a game kept on C Street. 1890J. P. Quinn Fools of Fortune 201 A record of the game is kept by means of an instrument known as a ‘case-keeper’. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., Case-keeper, in faro, the player who marks the cards as they come from the dealing-box... Small buttons are pushed along wires for this purpose. 1914C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iv. ii. 879 You call me a case-keeper? What men have I ever let you bring back here? 1938H. Asbury Sucker's Progr. 14 Case-keeper, a device for keeping a record of the cards as they were drawn. Also, the man who operated this device.
c1450Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 688 Hic cassarius, a *casmaker. 1664Pepys Diary (1879) III. 36 Thence to my case-maker for my stone case. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Case-maker, a carpenter who makes wooden packing-cases for shipping goods.
1892Daily News 13 May 5/8 A steamer's carrying her oil in small hermetically sealed tin cases..would not necessarily secure her..from fire... But..no instance is on record of a fire having occured on board a steamship laden with *case-oil while in transit through the Canal. 1930Masefield Wand. Liverpool 49 The ship discharged her chalk..and loaded case-oil. 1953tr. F. C. Gerretson's Hist. R. Dutch I. v. 226 In order to sell the remaining supplies of Russian case oil, the cases had to be removed first.
1615Markham Eng. Housew. ii. i. (1668) 26 Seven corns of *case pepper.
1675Evelyn Terra (1729) 45 Exoticks and choicer *Case Plants.
1884F. J. Britten Watch. & Clockm. 47 [He] fixes the *case springs in a thin brass ring between the movement and the case.
1664Evelyn Sylva (1776) 139 To shelter Orange and other tender *Case-trees from the parching Sun.
1770–4A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) III. 100 The elytra, or *case wings are of a reddish brown colour.
▸ case-sensitive adj. Computing (esp. of a program or function) differentiating between capital and lower-case letters for the purposes of searching, sorting, etc.; (of input) dependent on or subject to this distinction.
1981S. Sluizer & J. B. Postel Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 780. 2 Commands and replies are not *case sensitive. That is, a command or reply word may be upper case, lower case, or any mixture of upper and lower case. 1997Internet Mag. Jan. 79/2 The next step is to check the capitalization. If the host has a UNIX server, file addresses will be case-sensitive. 2001USA Today (Electronic ed.) 10 Dec. d3 Case-sensitive passwords actually offer an extra layer of protection, because they let users come up with more variations of passwords, making them harder to crack.
▪ III. case, n.3
Also case-char.
A fish of the family Salmonidæ.
1751S. Whatley Engl. Gazetteer (Winander Meer) There is a fish very much like it [the char] (but of another species, supposed to be the case) called torgoch, or red-belly. 1769Pennant Zool. III. 260 The jaws in the Case Charr are perfectly even.
▪ IV. case, n.4
(See quot. 1854.)
1851Melville Moby Dick II. xxxv. 238 The upper part, known as the Case. Ibid. III. viii. 64, I am ready to squeeze case eternally. 1854Chamb. Jrnl. I. 53 The greater part of the head of the sperm-whale is composed of soft parts, called junk and case. The junk is oily fat; and the case is a delicate fluid, yielding spermaceti in large proportion.
▪ V. † case, v.1 Obs.
[f. case n.1 12.]
a. trans. To put or bring forward as a supposition.
b. intr. = to put cases (see case n.1 12).
1647Ward Simp. Cobler 52 Good Casuists would case it, and case it, part it, and part it; now it, and then it, punctually. 1687R. L'Estrange Answ. Diss. 21 For this way of Casing a Matter, has the Force of Asserting it. a1704― (J.) They fell presently to reasoning and casing upon the matter with him, and laying distinctions before him.
▪ VI. case, v.2|keɪs|
[f. case n.2]
1. a. trans. To enclose in a case; to put up in a case or box; to incase, surround with.
1575Turberv. Falconrie 161 When he hath armed or cased the hearons tronke with a cane or reed. 1608Shakes. Per. v. i. 112 Her eyes as iewell-like, and cast as richly. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 30 Long wings, like those of Flyes, which lye folded up, and cased within the former. 1748Anson's Voy. i. viii. 111 A great quantity of snow and sleet, which cased our rigging, and froze our sails. 1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1524 The felloes are cased in brass. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiii. 309 Bones of seals, walrus, and whales—all now cased in ice. 1876Smiles Sc. Natur. ix. (ed. 4) 161, I procured the whole of them myself, preserved them and cased them.
b. with up, over.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 163 Like a cunning Instrument cas'd vp. 1713Guardian No. 95. 1741–3 Wesley Jrnl. (1749) 95 The sleet..froze as it fell, and cased us over presently. 1815Sir W. Grant in G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 522 He insisted on having them cased up, and sent back.
c. To cover or clothe with the hide of an animal, etc. (Chiefly said with reference to armour.)
1583Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 66 With lion his yellow darck skyn my carcase I cased. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 55 Case ye, case ye; on with your vizards. 1613Heywood Silver Age iii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 129 Yet I ere night will case me in his skin. 1725Pope Odyss. xxiv. 535 They case their limbs in brass; to arms they run. 1854Patmore Angel in Ho. i. iii. 5. 1863 W. Phillips Speeches iii. 40 Men cased in iron from head to foot.
d. fig.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 187 If thou would'st not entombe thy selfe aliue, And case thy reputation in thy Tent. 1871Blackie Four Phases i. 127 A people..cased in the hard panoply of unreasoned tradition.
2. Technical uses.
a. Building. To cover the outside of a building with a facing of different material.
1702W. J. Bruyn's Voy. Levant lxiii. 235 It is a Building Cased with great Free-Stone. 1734Builder's Dict., Casing of Timber-Work, is the Plaistering a House all over on the Outside with Mortar, and then striking it wet by a Ruler, with the Corner of a Trowel..to make it resemble the Joints of Freestone. a1735Arbuthnot (J.), Then they began to case their houses with marble. 1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss. s.v., A brick wall is said to be cased with stone, or with a brick superior in quality.
b. Bookbinding. To glue (a book), after sewing, into its ‘case’ or cover.
c. To line (a shaft, tube, etc.).
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 337/1 The shaft is sunk as in ordinary mines, cased with timber.
d. Glass-making. (See quots.)
1849A. Pellatt Curios. Glass-making 74 The modern practice of casing flint glass with one or more thin coatings of intensely coloured glass. Ibid. 114 The principle of casing a layer of colour upon flint crystal glass.
e. dial. (See quot.)
1813A. Young Agric. Essex I. 261 The whole was clover; part of it was what is called cased, in June, that is, made a bastard fallow; tempered as they call it in Norfolk; and the operations of this casing were, first to clean plough it shallow; then it was roved across; then stitched up, and ploughed once more.
3. To furnish or fit with cases (cf. shelved).
1884Athenæum 5 Jan. 23/3 The narrow gallery beyond (not yet completely cased) will contain, when arranged, a good stratigraphical series.
4. To strip of the case or skin; to skin. Obs. exc. U.S.
1601Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 111 Weele make you some sport with the Foxe ere we case him. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 212 The Bats, some case like Rabbets. 1796H. Glasse Cookery vi. 126 Take a full grown hare and let it hang four or five days before you case it. 1803Rees Cycl. s.v. Casing, They say, flay a deer, case a hare. 1821J. Fowler Jrnl. (1898) 44 The Hunters killed two deer, [and] Cased the Skins for Baggs. 1900N. Smithwick Evol. State 178 The vessels for carrying water were made of deer skins cased—stripped off whole—the legs and necks tied tightly with sinews.
5. To examine, inspect, size up beforehand. Phr. to case the joint (gaff, job), to study the layout of premises before robbing them. slang (orig. U.S.).
1915Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 23 Case,..to watch; to observe; to scrutinize. 1928Amer. Mercury May 81/1 Has it [sc. a building] been cased? ‘Casing a mark without getting a rank' is the most difficult part of a robbery. 1929Sat. Even. Post 13 Apr. 54/3 If he [a crook] intends to prowl a place, he first cases the joint. 1934‘D. Hume’ Too Dangerous to Live x. 108 We've cased a job, and it looks good. 1940J. O'Hara Pal Joey (1952) 36, I..cased the mouse and got a look at her kisser. 1946Amer. Speech XXI. 69/2 To case..to criminals..means simply to look at, to watch, or to look over. 1947M. Gilbert They never looked Inside vii. 106 He was one of the curious specialists who flourish on the fringe of the kingdom of crime; he was infinitely patient at ‘casing’ a job and infinitely crafty at finding or making a way in. 1954J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday ii. 15 He was casing the field for a career. 1957M. Gair Sapphires iii. 42 What he was doing was casing the gaff; or, in police terms, ‘loitering with intent to commit a felony’. |