case

Related to case: Case grammar

case

A very peculiar, eccentric, or abnormal person. A: "What's the deal with that John guy? He's really weird." B: "Oh yeah, he's a real case. Just sits at the back of class and never speaks."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

case

the [current] instance; an actual situation. I think Bill is a vegetarian, and if that is the case, we should not serve him meat. Susie believes trees can talk, but that is not the case.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See:
  • (Do) you mean to say (that) (something is the case)?
  • (Do) you mean to tell me (that) (something is the case)?
  • (not) care two hoots
  • a basket case
  • a case in point
  • a case of (something)
  • a case of mistaken identity
  • a case of the blind leading the blind
  • a federal case
  • a hard case
  • a/the feeling (that) (something is/will be the case)
  • an open-and-shut case
  • as the case may be
  • basket case
  • be certain that (something will happen or is the case)
  • be no question that (something will happen/is the case)
  • be on (one's) case
  • be on somebody's case
  • be on someone's case
  • be on the case
  • best/worst-case scenario
  • best-case scenario
  • build a case
  • build a case against (someone or something)
  • case
  • case closed
  • case in point
  • case of
  • case of mistaken identity
  • case of the blind leading the blind
  • case of the dropsy
  • case of the jitters
  • case of the shorts
  • case out
  • case someone/something out
  • case the joint
  • circumstances alter cases
  • Don’t make a federal case out of it!
  • don't make a federal case (out) of (something)
  • flash-case
  • gather a case
  • gather a case against (someone or something)
  • get down to brass tacks
  • get down to cases
  • get off (one's) case
  • Get off case!
  • get off somebody's case
  • get off someone’s back
  • get off someone’s case
  • get on (one's) case
  • get on someone’s case
  • hard case
  • hard cases make bad laws
  • have a bad case of the simples
  • have a case
  • have a case (against someone or something)
  • have a case on
  • have a case on (someone)
  • have a hunch that is the case
  • headcase
  • I rest my case
  • in any case
  • in case
  • in case of
  • in case of something
  • in case you missed it
  • in no case
  • in that case
  • in the case of
  • in the case of (someone or something)
  • just in case
  • keep off (of) (one's) case
  • keep off back
  • know at a glance that (something is the case)
  • make a case for (something)
  • make a case that
  • make a federal case (out) of (something)
  • make a federal case of
  • make a federal case out of
  • make a federal case out of something
  • make out a case
  • make out like (something is the case)
  • make out that (something is the case)
  • meet the case
  • nut case
  • nutcase
  • off (one's) case
  • off case
  • off someone's back
  • on (one's) case
  • on case
  • on someone's back
  • on the case
  • open-and-shut case
  • piece of cake
  • prove to (one) that (something is the case)
  • rest your case
  • staircase wit
  • the shorts
  • the worst-case scenario
  • whatever the case
  • whatever the case is
  • whatever the case may be
  • work (one's) soul case out
  • work it so (that) (something is the case)
  • work the soul case out of
  • work things so (that) (something is the case)
  • worst-case scenario
  • you can bet the farm that (something will happen or is the case)
References in classic literature
The case had been considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped convict and the relations between him and the Barrymores.
"By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete knowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to a jury.
In this I fancy that in any case he made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his doom would none the less have been sealed.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of different States; --between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction.
Constitution of The United States
On the other hand, in some cases, as with the elephant and rhinoceros, none are destroyed by beasts of prey: even the tiger in India most rarely dares to attack a young elephant protected by its dam.
On the other hand, in many cases, a large stock of individuals of the same species, relatively to the numbers of its enemies, is absolutely necessary for its preservation.
Many cases are on record showing how complex and unexpected are the checks and relations between organic beings, which have to struggle together in the same country.
The Origin of Species
In our own case, the one group is our body (or our brain), while the other is our mind, in so far as it consists of perceptions.
What it is that happens when a wave of light reaches a given place we cannot tell, except in the sole case when the place in question is a brain connected with an eye which is turned in the right direction.
This case is normal in perception: we see as one what the microscope or telescope reveals to be many different objects.
The Analysis of Mind
The determinate qualification covers a larger field in the case of the genus that in that of the species: he who uses the word 'animal' is herein using a word of wider extension than he who uses the word 'man'.
I do not mean by this that one substance cannot be more or less truly substance than another, for it has already been stated' that this is the case; but that no single substance admits of varying degrees within itself.
For statements and opinions are said to have this capacity, not because they themselves undergo modification, but because this modification occurs in the case of something else.
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