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Glite Dictionary
typesetter's case

typesetter's case

9.9
A shallow tray with small spaces for holding metal letters used in printing
  • noun
  • /ˈtaɪpˌsɛtərz keɪs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : caja de tipos
  • The old print shop still displayed a typesetter's case filled with lead letters.

Examples

  • Each typesetter's case was carefully organized to speed up the compositor's work.

  • He explained that the capital letters were stored in a separate typesetter's case.

  • The old typesetter's case was filled with various fonts.

  • Can you hand me the typesetter's case from the shelf?

  • The antique store had a beautiful typesetter's case that showcased different fonts of type.

  • Each typesetter's case in the workshop was filled with organized compartments for rapid access to the letters.

  • In traditional printing, a typesetter's case holds the individual pieces of type that a compositor uses.

Synonyms

case
vstypesetter's case
  • Archaic
64 8.6

A box with small spaces for holding letters used in old printing

is specifically the shallow tray used to hold individual letters for setting text
compositor's case
vstypesetter's case
  • Archaic
9.9

A tray with small sections that hold letters for printing pages

is the shallow tray form especially for holding individual pieces of type
typecase
vstypesetter's case
  • Archaic
9.8

A box with small sections for holding letters used in printing

is the tray a compositor uses to hold or pick individual letters

Surface Forms

typesetter's case singular
typesetter's cases plural

Morphology

typesetter's + case

The meaning is directly built from 'typesetter's' (the person who sets type) + 'case' (a compartmented box), so it denotes the box belonging to a typesetter used to hold individual pieces of type. This possessive + container composition is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

The noun typesetter's case comes from old printing shops: it was the shallow tray a typesetter used, with many small boxes to hold metal letters. That's why it means 'a shallow tray for holding the individual pieces of type'.