use case

noun

variants or less commonly use-case
plural use cases also use-cases
: a use to which something (such as a proposed product or service) can be put : application sense 1a(2)
There are various use cases for the cloud: website hosting, disaster recovery, … etc.—David Balaban
Users seem to want single-purpose mobile apps that nail a specific use case quickly.—Josh Constine
The pandemic has pushed the adoption of technology for various use-cases.—businesswire.com

Examples of use case in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In these kinds of use cases, developers who already use OpenAI for more complex tasks might prefer to now obtain those preliminary, fast classification judgments from the same provider. — Wen Shao, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026 Early use cases for individualized agents have included filing forms to have a pothole filled or messy telephone wires cleaned up, though these human response systems aren’t built to handle a massive uptick in requests. — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Start With Decisions, Not Use Cases When starting new projects, organizations usually begin by inventorying possible AI use cases. — Igor Rikalo, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Greengart pointed to the Rabbit r1 personal assistant, which lacked distinct use cases from the smartphone and faced technical and hardware issues. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for use case

Word History

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of use case was in 1991

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Use case.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/use%20case. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!