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:
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
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
Older taxidermy specimens are frequently displayed, experts say, with museums taking precautions like using special vacuums to clean them or to encase them in glass.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
As The Times reported in May on the growing number of assaults against Metro bus drivers, the agency is attempting to curtail such incidents by installing floor-to-ceiling plastic walls that fully encase the driver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
Then from one end of the line to the other gongs and horns would sound and green rockets would streak across the sky and platoon after platoon would wearily encase itself in gas masks.
From Average Americans by Theodore Roosevelt
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
When a caterpillar finally encases itself into a pupa, it doesn’t just grow wings and emerge as a butterfly.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2023
This is dashboard dining, since you’ll want to eat it pronto while the coarsely ground pork is still drippy juicy, and the buttery pastry sheet that encases the filling still crackles.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
Along the cliffs, a white dragon is stirring to life, its movements cracking the ice that encases it.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Fortuitously, the small kiosk where Gil was encased acted as a kind of buffer, offering some measure of protection from the accumulation of debris looming above.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
His courtside seat at basketball team Toronto Raptors' stadium was recently decorated with icicles and, last month, a giant pile of ice blocks appeared in the city with the album's release date encased inside.
From BBC ● May 15, 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
They are encased and unlikely to leach into the soil.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
Each cable had been encased in lead and was closely monitored by the Seventh Directorate.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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
Rather than shutting the pipeline, Enbridge has proposed encasing the pipes in a protective tunnel.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
But Baba's gripping tightly, encasing her hand with his warm palms.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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.
