encase
Americanverb (used with object)
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encases,
present (3rd person singular)
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encased,
past participle, past
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encasing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
encasesimple
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encasessimple
-
have encasedperfect
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has encasedperfect
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am encasingprogressive
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are encasingprogressive
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is encasingprogressive
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have been encasingperfect progressive
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has been encasingperfect progressive
Past
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encasedsimple
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had encasedperfect
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was encasingprogressive
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were encasingprogressive
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had been encasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encase
Explanation
To encase something is to cover it or close it off, as if you were putting it in a shell, a coating, or a box. Some cheesemakers encase each wheel of cheese in wax. When you're packing your lunch, you might encase a brownie in wax paper, or encase a sandwich in a plastic container. A hug can encase you in warmth and affection, and the dark can even seem to encase you on a moonless night in the country. Encase combines the prefix en-, "make" or "put in," and case, "container" or "receptacle," from the Latin root capsa, "box."
Vocabulary lists containing encase
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Enormous machines wrapped layers of carbon around 40-foot-long cylinders, producing carbon tubes that can encase burning rocket fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
She thought perhaps she could keep them, encase them in a necklace to wear in memory.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2025
Michigan regulators in December approved the company’s $500 million plan to encase the portion of the pipeline beneath the straits in a tunnel to mitigate risk.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
However, the quantum noise that lurks inside the vacuum tubes that encase LIGO's laser beams can alter the timing of the photons in the beams by minutely small amounts.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023
Next estimate the number of thousands of feet board measure of forms required to encase the concrete to be placed in a day.
From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Halbert Powers Gillette
“Midnight Movement” encases Monk’s best-known melody, “’Round Midnight” within a chiming, repeated figure and a gauze of natural overtones and synth tones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The operation's name - "matryoshkas" are Russian nesting dolls - mirrors its method, which encases an original false claim in layers of ambient re-posts from old or hacked social media accounts.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
Most quantum computers include a component casually referred to as a “fridge,” a cryogenic enclosure that encases the processor and keeps it cold.
From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026
But there is no denying that even his forays into décor — such as a commercially produced, now-popular coffee table that encases pounds of blue powder inside a plexiglass box — emit a celestial flavor.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
The morphling floats out toward the Cornucopia for a while, then the hovercraft appears and a four-pronged claw drops, encases her, carries her into the night sky, and she’s gone.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Before Gary Oldman’s Dracula became a pale, bewigged count, he was Vlad the Impaler, encased in one of the most striking costumes in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
I have, it turns out, a thing for sausage encased in dough.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Azure’s results are encased somewhere in those numbers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Messenger RNA technology uses synthetic molecular instructions encased in tiny fat bubbles that temporarily enter cells, causing them to produce targets that train the body’s immune system.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
A single standing lamp attempted to light the room, but the corners of the apartment were encased in shadows.
From "George" by Alex Gino
Bulletproof glass encasing the portico for his annual appearance with the Easter Bunny?
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026
This mammoth died nearby, but his carcass slumped into an ancient stream bed and was covered by sediment and eventually topped by the pits’ oozing asphalt, encasing and preserving his bones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
Coach Sean McVay provided no specifics, but Kupp exited the locker room with a knee-high protective boot encasing his left foot and ankle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
Older taxidermy specimens are frequently displayed, experts say, with museums taking precautions like using special vacuums to clean them — or encasing them in glass.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
The big glass window revealed the glittering Cloud Nests encasing the Arcanum, and she hoped she'd have the best view of the floating cities.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
