case v.1
1. (orig. US, also case out, case up) to look over, to appraise, esp. before a robbery.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Vocab. Criminal Sl. 23: case [...] to watch; to observe; to scrutinize. | |
| Stealing Through Life 281: I’ve cased it, on and off for a month. | |
| It’s a Racket! 221: case up — To look over the situation very carefully. | |
| Limey 163: I have got somethin’ ‘cased’ (prospected), but I haven’t finished dopin’ it out yet. | |
| Really the Blues 183: Maybe he’s thinking it over right now, while he’s casing me. | |
| ‘Dying to See Willie’ in Popular Detective Mar. 🌐 Willie quickly cased the room and then he saw something on the dresser that made his ears twitch. | |
| Men of the Und. 144: If the mark is a bank, it will be well cased before the robbery. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Inside the C.I.D. 76: Some of the gang members concentrated on ‘casing’ the house to see what was there, and how it could be best entered. | |
| Always Leave ’Em Dying 129–20: You said you had to . . . what was it? Case the no man’s land and plan your getaway route. So case. | |
| Rage in Harlem (1969) 112: Muggers with scarred faces cased the lone pedestrians. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | He Who Shoots Last 80: [of a wallet] As the Father vigorously shook hands, he cased the wallet [...] indicating it was in the right pitt, or pocket. | |
| Thief’s Primer 97: This man was supposed to have cased it [i.e. a department store] out. | |
| Gonif 6: They had cased the operation for nearly six months. | |
| Doing Time 187: case: to carefully watch or inspect a place to be burgled. | |
| Muscle for the Wing 169: She cased the place for a few tush hogs to knock over. | |
| Homeboy 21: Rooski swore he cased the place. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | The Joy (2015) [ebook] [S]pending his evenings casing gaffs, perfecting handbrake turns in stolen cars and developing an unhealthy appetite for palf and gee-gees. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 38/138/1: case out v. to conduct intelligence work prior to committing a crime. | |
| ‘Jungletown Jihad’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 330: The coroner’s cats cased his stiff. | |
| Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] He’d already been casing Parker’s building. | |
| Zero at the Bone [ebook] He left a note and decided to case Gary Quinlivan’s riverside apartment. | |
| NYRB 25 Feb. 🌐 Using Bea [...] to help case houses in the Boston suburbs, Malcolm [X] organized a small burglary gang. |
2. to assess a person.
| Honest Rainmaker (1991) 123: Benny had been rapidly taking stock of the Colonel [...] and the Colonel had been casing Benny, too. | |
| (con. 1943) Coorparoo Blues [ebook] [H]e also looked away far too quick when he cased Jack coming in. |
3. (US black) to steal; to exchange money for a higher denomination.
| Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 case Definition: 1. to steal everything within sight 2. the act of exchanging money for a higher denomination. Example: Yo, dis party is whack. Lets case dis joint! |
In phrases
to check a place or situation.
 | Interview with Zakk Wylde on New Era Wrestling 🌐 I come out here I hit this little white ball, case it around in a golf cart, maybe smoke a cigar or two and just get away from things for a while. |
1. (US, also case off) to leave, to go away.
| Man with the Golden Arm 55: I got to case out of here. [Ibid.] 289: Where the hell you casin off to? |
2. (US) to join forces for any undertaking.
| Man with the Golden Arm 117: ‘Can’t I case out wit’ you, Frankie? Where you goin’?’ He hadn’t been left out of any fast hustle of Frankie’s since they’d been together. |
3. see sense 1 above.
1. to survey a house, shop etc, with a view to subseq. robbing it.
| Jackson Dly News (MS) 1 Apr. 7/1: Crook Chatter [...] ‘[T]he leather lifting game is not what it used to be. It’s easier to “case a joint” now, “clout a boat,” stick up the place and make a getaway’. | |
| Report of the Dept. of Public Safety (W. VA State Police) n.p.: No one would suspect that the well-dressed young man who had made a purchase just at closing time prior to the burglary was ‘casing the joint’ . | |
| ‘Chatter of Guns’ in Sat. Eve. Post 13 Apr.; list extracted in AS VI:2 (1930) 132: case the joint, v. phr. Look over a prospective job. | |
| ‘Dancing Dan’s Christmas’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 267: Gunner Jack and me are casing the joint. | |
| No Hiding Place! 189/2: Casing the Joint. Examining the place. | |
| (con. 1910s) Hoods (1953) 29: We still got to case the joint. | |
| Mad mag. Sept.–Oct. 22: When the joint is cased and the caper planned ... they always down a few shots of randid’s deluxe. | |
| (con. 1940s) Confessions 59: As if he were not above doing a job himself, casing a joint for some rocks. | |
| Doing Time 132: I’d had my eyes on this fancy house for a while. I’d cased the joint and it looked good, easy pickings. | |
| ‘Drama’ 🎵 He said the spot was sleep, he cased the joint a week. | |
| Guardian G2 10 June 10: The kid had used his day in court to case the joint. | |
| Soothing Music for Stray Cats 124: Suspicious to the last, and like a total ole bastard I asks, ‘You guys been casing the joint?’. | |
| ‘Grassed’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] Peter entered [...] from the lounge room. Had he been casing the joint? |
2. to look for employment opportunities.
| Mine Enemy Grows Older (1959) 57: We decided to try our luck in the nearby metropolis of Syracuse [...] Julian and I were going alone, at first, to case the joint. |
see sense 1 above.
(US) to watch closely.
| Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 15 June 2/2: Jack Richards was keeping cases, and he proposed three cheers for the stiff. | |
| Lantern (N.O.) 22 Jan. 5: I’m going to keep cases on the entire crowd. | |
| Artie (1963) 19: I could see that a Johnny-on-the-spot, with a big badge, marked ‘Committee,’ was tryin’ to keep cases on her. | |
| Shorty McCabe 58: Now don’t tax me with how she got there. I’d quit trying to keep cases on her. | |
| ‘The Low Brow’ in Big League (2004) 20: They’re [i.e. women] all right when you can watch ’em an’ keep cases, but the minute you’re out of sight – zing! | |
| ‘The Pitch-Out’ in Lucky Seventh (2004) 289: Curly kept cases to such good purpose that he ascertained that the man [...] was a cousin of the house manager. | |
| Hand-made Fables 200: She was slightly Gray, having strained herself through many years trying to keep Cases on the World of Feminism. | |
| Broadway Melody 73: I couldn’t keep my pan toward the front on account o’ trying to keep cases on you. | |
| Iceman Cometh Act I: (Rocky watches this move carefully.) Pipe him keepin’ cases, Margie. |