case law

American

noun

law established by judicial decisions in particular cases, instead of by legislative action.

case law British

noun

law established by following judicial decisions given in earlier cases Compare statute law See also precedent

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of case law

First recorded in 1860–65

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.

That means you have to look to previous case law to see what might happen when the 61-year-old is sentenced next month.

From BBC • May 26, 2026

While state laws govern how marriages are unwound, resolutions for unmarried couples often hinge on a court’s interpretation of case law, with varying outcomes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Rulemaking is intricate work, they said, requiring expertise in the subject at hand as well as in existing statutes, regulations and case law.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2026

Normally, Colorado case law takes a relatively capacious view of how a crime’s “gravity” should be measured.

From Slate • Dec. 29, 2025

He wrote, “There is virtually no case law whatsoever in the entire United States that has addressed it. The technology is just too new.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023