- a legal action that serves as a precedent in deciding similar succeeding cases
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
test′ case′,
- Lawa typical case whose court decision may be interpreted as a precedent for application in future similar cases.
- Lawa legal action taken, sometimes deliberately by agreement of both parties, with a special view to determining the position of the law on some matter, as the constitutionality of a statute.
- 1890–95
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
test case n