\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}.]
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.

2. A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box;
   as, a case of goods; a case of instruments.

3. (Print.) A shallow tray divided into compartments or
   ``boxes'' for holding type.

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.

4. An inclosing frame; a casing; as, a door case; a window
   case.

5. (Mining) A small fissure which admits water to the
   workings. --Knight.

\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.

         The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days
         and nights in the saddle.             --Prescott.

2. To strip the skin from; as, to case a box. [Obs.]

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

         By aventure, or sort, or cas.         --Chaucer.

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.

         In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge.
                                               --Deut. xxiv.
                                               13.

         If the case of the man be so with his wife. --Matt.
                                               xix. 10.

         And when a lady's in the case You know all other
         things give place.                    --Gay.

         You think this madness but a common case. --Pope.

         I am in case to justle a constable,   --Shak.

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.

         A proper remedy in hypochondriacal cases.
                                               --Arbuthnot.

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.

         Let us consider the reason of the case, for nothing
         is law that is not reason.            --Sir John
                                               Powell.

         Not one case in the reports of our courts. --Steele.

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.

         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.

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.

{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 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.

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