Case Meaning
/keɪs/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn actual event, situation, or fact.
nounA given condition or state.
Sentence Examples
You have to judge the case without bias.
We will make an exception of your case.
The court will make its ruling on the case next week.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective examined the evidence and cracked the mysterious ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In this ____, we need to gather more evidence before we proceed today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cas, from Old French cas (“an event”), from Latin cāsus (“a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case”), perfect passive participle of cadō (“to fall, to drop”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
— 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
"Thus vvhilſt he hopt he hild her leaſt, ſo altereth the cace / VVith ſuch as ſhe, Ah ſuch it is to build on ſuch a face."
— 1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XXXVI.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 174:
"Ne wist he how to turne, nor to what place: / Was never wretched man in such a wofull cace."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"Mares which are over-fat, hold with much difficulty; whereas those that are but in good case and plump, conceive with the greatest readiness and ease."
— 1726, Nathan Bailey, John Worlidge, Dictionarium Rusticum, Urbanicum & Botanicum:
"We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective examined the evidence and cracked the mysterious ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In this ____, we need to gather more evidence before we proceed today.