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cause
1[ kawz ]
noun
- a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect:
You have been the cause of much anxiety.
What was the cause of the accident?
- the reason or motive for some human action:
The good news was a cause for rejoicing.
- good or sufficient reason:
to complain without cause;
to be dismissed for cause.
- Law.
- a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law.
- a case for judicial decision.
- any subject of discussion or debate.
- a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated:
the Socialist cause;
the human rights cause.
- the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern:
support for the cause of the American Indian.
- Philosophy.
- the end or purpose for which a thing is done or produced.
- Aristotelianism. any of the four things necessary for the movement or the coming into being of a thing, namely a material material cause, something to act upon it efficient cause, a form taken by the movement or development formal cause, and a goal or purpose final cause.
'cause
2[ kawz, kuhz, unstressed kuhz ]
conjunction
- a shortened form of because.
cause
/ kɔːz /
noun
- a person, thing, event, state, or action that produces an effect
- grounds for action; motive; justification
she had good cause to shout like that
- the ideals, etc, of a group or movement
the Communist cause
- the welfare or interests of a person or group in a dispute
they fought for the miners' cause
- a matter of widespread concern or importance
the cause of public health
- a ground for legal action; matter giving rise to a lawsuit
- the lawsuit itself
- (in the philosophy of Aristotle) any of four requirements for a thing's coming to be, namely material (material cause), its nature (formal cause), an agent (efficient cause), and a purpose (final cause)
- make common cause withto join with (a person, group, etc) for a common objective
verb
- tr to be the cause of; bring about; precipitate; be the reason for
Derived Forms
- ˈcauseless, adjective
- ˈcauser, noun
- ˌcausaˈbility, noun
- ˈcausable, adjective
Other Words From
- causa·ble adjective
- causa·bili·ty noun
- causeless adjective
- causeless·ly adverb
- causeless·ness noun
- causer noun
- non·causa·ble adjective
- self-caused adjective
- subcause noun
- un·causa·ble adjective
- under·cause noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of cause1
Origin of cause2
Word History and Origins
Origin of cause1
Idioms and Phrases
- make common cause, to unite in a joint effort; work together for the same end:
They made common cause with neighboring countries and succeeded in reducing tariffs.
More idioms and phrases containing cause
- lost cause
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
But Cosby Truthers are applying their principles to the wrong cause.
So we know that boring down to the bedrock and pumping it full of fluid can cause earthquakes.
These days weather should never cause a commercial airliner to crash.
If Dudesmash were to be something we continued doing, this would be an important year to do it, ‘cause we didn’t do one last year.
Michelle Obama tweeting a hashtag is somehow cause for outrage.
Whether they had ever, at different times, pleaded for or against the same cause, and cited precedents to prove contrary opinions?
Without any known cause of offence, a tacit acknowledgement of mutual dislike was shewn by Louis and de Patinos.
There is cause for alarm when they bring one hundred and ten ships into these seas without any means of resistance on our part.
If we are to have a real education along lines of expression we must begin with the "content," or cause, of expression.
Rapidity of action and a self-confidence which on the battlefield never felt itself beaten were the cause of Murat's success.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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