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case2

Syllabification: (case)

Pronunciation: /kās/

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Definition of case

noun

1a container designed to hold or protect something:he placed the trumpet safely in its velvet-lined case
the outer protective covering of a natural or manufactured object:a seed case
British an item of luggage; a suitcase.
a box containing bottles or cans of a beverage, sold as a unit:there are twelve bottles of champagne in a case

2each of the two forms, capital or minuscule, in which a letter of the alphabet may be written or printed. See also uppercase, lowercase.
[from the use in printing to mean 'partitioned container for loose metal type']

verb

[with object]

1surround in a material or substance:the towers are of steel cased in granite
enclose in a protective container: (as adjective cased)a cased pair of pistols

2 informal reconnoiter (a place) before carrying out a robbery:I was casing the joint

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French casse, chasse (modern caisse 'trunk, chest', châsse 'reliquary, frame'), from Latin capsa, related to capere 'to hold'

case in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of case in the British & World English dictionary

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