An actual event, situation, or fact.
What is case?
• A given condition or state.
• A specific matter or piece of work, specifically defined within a profession, usually in respect of a specific person and/or event; the set of tasks involved in addressing one such matter.
• An instance or event as a topic of study.
• A legal proceeding; a lawsuit or prosecution.
• A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
• Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language.
• An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms.
• A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch.
• A love affair.
(Verb) To propose hypothetical cases.
(Noun) A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
• A box, sheath, or covering generally.
• A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
• An enclosing frame or casing.
• A suitcase.
• A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
• The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
• A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces).
• The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter.
• Four of a kind.
• A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
• A small fissure which admits water into the workings.
• A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft.
• A cardboard box that holds (usually 24) beer bottles or cans.
• A counterfeit crown (five-shilling coin).
(Adjective) The last remaining card of a particular rank.
(Verb) To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
• To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose.
• To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
Why case matters
case appears in U.S. legal practice across multiple practice areas. Knowing what it means — and when it applies — can determine the outcome of motions, filings, and negotiations. For non-lawyers, the value of looking up a precise definition is that legal terms often carry meanings that differ from everyday usage; relying on the common meaning can lead to costly missteps.
How case works in practice
In practice, case is invoked when parties, judges, or attorneys need to identify the legal status of an issue, the rights of those involved, or the procedural step required next. The definition shown above is sourced from Wiktionary , which is widely cited in U.S. legal practice. Because U.S. law is jurisdictionally layered — federal, state, and sometimes local — the precise application of the term can vary by court, so check the controlling authority for your specific case.