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casebook

casebook

2 5.8
A book with records of past cases for study
  • noun
  • /ˈkeɪsˌbʊk/
translation icon : libro de casos
  • Students often refer to their casebook when preparing for exams in law school.
  • constitutional casebook

Examples

  • The lawyer turned to her casebook to find precedents for the upcoming trial.

  • Professor Fleming, currently on the faculty of Fordham Law School, was in private practice at the time the casebook was issued.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Although a casebook is available, no suitable text currently exists.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Another page in the casebook of Rod Riley was finished.

  • "During my first year, he telephoned me daily to discuss the cases in my casebook.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Gagg offers an example from his forensic engineer's casebook.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Rarely do issues of civil litigation receive attention in constitutional law casebooks, and when they do, the discussion is relatively brief.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The troubled history of nuisance law should thus have been no more than a footnote in any casebook on land use planning or environmental protection.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Nor is it surprising that a variety of texts and casebooks on constitutional law and civil liberties are available.

    Academic text (1993)
  • None of the farmers surveyed for the Casebook who had an operating anaerobic digester said that they regret their basic decisions.

    Academic text (2000)

How Detailed

casebook
2 5.8
brief
67 4.2

Surface Forms

casebook singular
casebooks plural

Morphology

casebook = case + book (transparent) = case + book

The meaning 'a book of cases' follows directly from the clear combination of 'case' + 'book', a standard compound formation.

Etymology

Casebook comes from combining case ('an example or a person's medical or legal situation') and book ('a set of pages'). It is literally a book full of these cases, so doctors and lawyers use a casebook to look up past examples and learn from them.