Word of the Day: Case
The word “case” may refer to a few different things.
A case might be a thing that is used to carry or hold other things:
- I went to the store and bought a case of beer.
- Restaurants buy wine by the case.
- Golf balls are expensive, but if you buy them by the case, the cost per ball drops considerably.
- Workers at a grocery store unpack fresh fruit and vegetables that arrive in a case.
- Rachel carries her guitar around in a guitar case.
This word is found in compound nouns:
- A bookcase holds books.
- You use a staircase to move between floors of a building or a house.
- Milk, cheese, and yogurt are found in the dairy case at a grocery store.
- A gun case hold guns
- Charles carries a briefcase to work. (briefcase = a rectangular box used for carrying important paper and documents.)
A case might also be a situation:
- The detectives are dealing with a difficult case that involves a person’s homicide. (murder)
- Scientists are studying an unusual case of influenza that is affecting people in southeast Asia.
- Tony has a case of the flu.
- Martha is conducting a case study on diabetes in children. (case study = research)
- A lawyer might spend half a year or more preparing for a legal case.
The word “case” is used for letters:
- all of these words are in a lower case.
- ALL OF THESE WORDS ARE IN AN UPPER CASE.
- The beginning of a sentence or question uses an upper case letter.
- Proper nouns use an upper case.
If the word “case” is used as a verb, it means that a person is looking for something or preparing to do something.
- Thieves cased the jewelry store for several days before robbing it. (case = to prepare for a theft)
- Police are casing the neighborhood looking for clues to a murder.
Combine the preposition “in” with “case” to form “in case.” We use “in case” to describe preparations for possible activity:
- People carry umbrellas in case it rains.
- There’s a spare tire in my car in case I get a flat.
- In case of an emergency, it’s good to carry around a cell phone.
- Tim secretly hides money in his shoe–just in case.
Essential English Dictionary
Visit the Popular English Words Beginning with C page to see the list of all words starting with letter C. For seeing the HiCafe dictionary, visit the Popular English Words with Meaning page.
