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
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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:
Steel ribs encase the viewer, giving one the feeling of being in an upturned ship, as a soundtrack that ranges from gospel singing to mechanical clicks plays in the background.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
She thought perhaps she could keep them, encase them in a necklace to wear in memory.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2025
Floating on a wall just inside a heavy door on Ninth Avenue, 14 resin sculptures of varying sizes and delicate, glowing colors encase ephemera from across the ages.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2023
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
Sophia felt a ball of ice suddenly encase her heart.
From The Saracen: The Holy War by Robert Shea
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
It also uses a different type of fuel that encases uranium within silicon carbide, a durable substance that can withstand extreme temperatures and is expected to make the power plant safer to operate.
From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2023
He found one in the field of biological membranes: the outer layer of fats, called lipids, that encases the trillions of cells in the body, separating the watery outside from the inside.
From New York Times ● Jan. 15, 2022
Four cables, attached to tracks on the buildings, break through the stones, dragging up the net that encases Mitchell.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
“Gondola cars encased in digital ads, flying 26 feet overhead every 25-30 seconds would irreparably impair the vista, and the sense of calm and escape from urban life,” wrote former state parks director Ruth Coleman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
The heavy-looking crate, encased in an aluminium frame, was lowered out of the lorry, in front of a select crowd including the French ambassador to the UK and the director of the British Museum.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
By day, it bubbles in a giant stainless-steel pot about 5 feet across and one foot deep, encased in lava-like concrete and heated by gas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Custom kitchens designed by Christopher Peacock are encased in wood and fluted glass cabinetry with 2-inch-thick Calacatta marble on the kitchen islands.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
I’ve had several unpleasant dreams where I’m encased in one of Gran’s glass paperweights or trapped beneath the bell jar that houses her arrangement of dried flowers and dead butterflies.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The 360-degree curved glass walls encasing the galleries offered many glimpses of a face that belonged to me but somehow wasn’t mine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
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
This story has been updated to correct the name of the Denver exhibit that is chipping away at the rock encasing the T. rex fossil.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
He made careful preparations, wrapping himself in several coats and mufflers and encasing his neat boots in goloshes.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
