put case

verb

To take as a hypothesis; to suppose (that).

First used 15th–19th c.
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Meanings

verbput case (third-person singular simple present puts case, present participle putting case, simple past and past participle put case)

present singular third person puts case · participle present putting case

  1. idiomaticobsoleteTo take as a hypothesis; to suppose (that).First known use 15th–19th c.

    Put case that the soul after the departure from the body may live.

    1646, Jos[eph] Hall, The Balme of Gilead: Or, Comforts for the Distressed, both Morall and Divine. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for Nat[haniel] Butter, →OCLC
    2 more examples

    But put case they continue; thou art not so poor as thou wast born […]

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 3

    If my legitimate vengeance be a blow, Mistrusting my bare arm can deal that blow, I claim co-operation of a stick

    1868-1869, Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book Put case a person wrongs me past dispute
Cite this entry
APA

put case. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20case

MLA

“put case.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20case. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put case,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20case.

Source: put case on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.