Definition of "test case" [test case]

• A legal action whose outcome is likely to set a precedent or test the constitutionality of a statute. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Breitung, E.N., makes test case with Dacia registry, I 393"
• "Sixteen months later, on June 11, 2007, opening arguments in the first Omnibus Autism trial were made in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. The suit filed by the parents of Michelle Cedillo, who at twelve years old was largely confined to a wheelchair and continued to require around-the-clock medical care, was selected as the first test case for the dual-causation hypothesis."
• "Michelle Cedillo: Autistic girl whose Vaccine Court claim was an Omnibus test case"