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While I was trying to solve this crossword I came across definition #57, down: Bank robber’s advance man.

Obviously I couldn’t figure out the word so I asked to solve it. The result is caser.

The online dictionaries don’t help me too much in understanding its meaning, that’s why I’m asking for help.

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    Closevoters: Please indicate the means you used to find the definition such that it "could be found easily in a dictionary". None of the online dictionaries I consulted contained this definition. The question may or may not be suitable in its present form, but it is NOT appropriate to abuse the "dictionary lookup" reason like this. "Case the joint" is slang, and it is entirely unfair to expect non-native speakers to know it. "Advance man" is also not necessarily clear. I usually agree with closures, but this is ridiculous.
    – Jonathan Garber
    Jun 12, 2014 at 14:55
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    caser sense 15. A google search on the word was enough to find this in about 1 min.
    – user3169
    Jun 12, 2014 at 16:52
  • @user3169: Fair enough. I overlooked that because it's a LONG list, and because it's listed under the verb section. I still maintain that the closevotes are unreasonable, but I retract my statement that it cannot be found.
    – Jonathan Garber
    Jun 12, 2014 at 19:18
  • From the noun caser, which I maintain to say that is not listed in any online dictionary, to the noun "case" or the verb "to case, cased, casing" it's a long way though, but now that I know the answer perhaps I might figure out the relation between root and its derivative.
    – Lucian Sava
    Jun 12, 2014 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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case

"Casing. Meaning "examine, inspect" (usually prior to robbing) is from 1915, American English slang, perhaps from the notion of giving a place a look on all sides (compare technical case (v.) "cover the outside of a building with a different material," 1707).

Let's case the joint before hitting it - send Jimmy, he's a good caser

Let us observe what the guards are doing and where the entry and exit points are before we rob this bank

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