Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

case noun

¹ example

ADJ. classic, textbook, typical | clear, obvious, simple It was a simple case of mistaken identity. | borderline After the exams, the teacher gave all borderline cases a spoken test. | extreme | isolated, rare Except in a few rare cases, bee stings are not dangerous. | exceptional, special | striking

VERB + CASE highlight, illustrate, show He highlighted the case of Harry Farr, 25, who was executed for cowardice in 1916.

CASE + VERB arise, occur The committee has full powers to deal with any cases of malpractice that arise.

CASE + NOUN study a case study of an Amazonian tribe | example

PREP. in sb's/this ~ In her case, she failed the exam because she wasn't well. | ~ of a case of animal cruelty

PHRASES case by case/on a case by case basis Complaints are dealt with on a case by case basis. | a case in point Many professions feel they deserve higher pay, and nurses are a case in point.

² true situation

VERB + CASE be, remain It remains the case that not enough graduates are going into teaching. | overstate, understate I agree with him, but don't you think he slightly overstates the case?

³ of a disease

ADJ. acute, chronic | advanced, serious, severe | mild

CASE + NOUN history Medical students study the case histories of many patients. | file, notes, records, report

PREP. ~ of a severe case of food poisoning

⁴ police investigation

ADJ. notorious the notorious case of the Botley strangler | tragic | murder, robbery

VERB + CASE investigate, work on Four police officers are investigating the case. | crack, solve They never solved the Jones murder case.

CASE + NOUN officer Carter was the senior case officer on the investigation.

PREP. on the ~ A detective is on the case at the moment. | ~ of a case of theft

⁵ in a court of law

ADJ. court | criminal | civil | test This is a test case which will influence what other judges decide. | divorce

VERB + CASE bring The victim decided to bring a case of rape against him. | handle This was the hardest case she had handled since becoming a lawyer. | consider, hear, try The court will consider the case soon. The case will be heard in the Court of Appeal. | adjourn | dismiss, throw out The case was thrown out for lack of evidence. | drop The prosecution decided to drop the case. | decide, settle The case was settled out of court. | win | lose | review

CASE + VERB come before sb, come to court, go to court, go to trial The case came before Judge Hales in the Crown Court. He was so clearly innocent, the case should never have gone to court. | collapse The case against her collapsed when a key witness was proved to have lied. | centre on sth, hinge on sth, rest on sth, turn on sth The case hinged on the evidence of the only witness to the killing. | raise sth The case raises a number of issues.

PREP. in a/the ~ the evidence in the case | ~ against The case against her was very weak. | ~ of

PHRASES a/no case to answer The judge ruled that the defendant had no case to answer, as the evidence had been discredited. | the circumstances/facts of a case

⁶ arguments

ADJ. convincing, good, powerful, strong | open-and-shut, unanswerable With his current superb form, he presents an unanswerable case for selection in the team. | weak | defence, prosecution/prosecution's

VERB + CASE have Our lawyer didn't think we had a case (= had enough good arguments to win in a court of law). | prepare The defendant requested more time to prepare his case. | outline, set out | deliver, make (out), present, put, state You can make out a case for changing our teaching methods. | argue, plead I thought she argued her case very well. | take up The local MP has taken up the case of the family of six who have been left homeless. | judge The teacher must judge each case according to its merits. | bolster, help, support What evidence do you have to support your case? | weaken

CASE + VERB exist A strong case exists for adopting a similar system in this country.

PREP. ~ against Is there a case against wearing school uniforms? | ~ for

PHRASES the case for the defence/prosecution, the merits of a case The disciplinary committee considered the merits of his case before fining him.

⁷ container

ADJ. display She kept all her trophies in a display case. | presentation a gold wristwatch in a presentation case | carrying He put the binoculars back in their carrying case. | packing | glass The room was full of stuffed animals in glass cases. | cigarette, glasses, jewellery, pencil, pillow | guitar, violin, etc.

PREP. in/inside a/the ~, out of a/the ~

⁸ suitcase

ADJ. attache | overnight > See SUITCASE (for other collocates with case)

⁹ grammar

ADJ. ablative, accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental, locative, nominative, vocative

VERB + CASE take In Polish the verb ‘to be’ takes the instrumental case.

CASE + NOUN ending