upper case

American

noun

Printing.

case28

upper case British

noun

the top half of a compositor's type case in which capital letters, reference marks, and accents are kept

"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

adjective

of or relating to capital letters kept in this case and used in the setting or production of printed or typed matter

"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

verb

(tr) to print with upper-case letters; capitalize

"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 upper case

First recorded in 1675–85

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.

The Globe explained that the word has evolved from a description of a person’s skin color to signify a race and culture, and deserves the upper case treatment much the way other ethnic terms do.

From The Guardian • Jun. 20, 2020

When choosing a password, we're generally advised to use one upper case letter, an unusual character and a number.

From BBC • May 6, 2020

Frisch: Yes, I feel pretty strongly about, like, upper case and lower case letters.

From Slate • Nov. 1, 2017

Alexander noted he hadn’t learned the upper case “G,” and Roxy simply conceded: “I can’t yet.”

From Washington Times • Jan. 28, 2017

She laid a hand on the upper case.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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