common cause
A joint interest, as in “The common cause against the enemies of piety” (from John Dryden's poem, Religio laici, or a Layman's Faith, 1682). This term originated as to make common cause (with), meaning “to unite one's interest with another's.” In the mid-1900s the name Common Cause was adopted by a liberal lobbying group.
Words Nearby common cause
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use common cause in a sentence
Maher, and certainly conservative critics, overstate the extent to which liberals fail to make common cause with such folks.
Earlier this year, Miller responded to calls to stand with Cliven Bundy and declared common cause with the renegade rancher.
While these entities may find common cause in the act of sanctioning, they often espouse different goals.
Yet cancer remains the second-most-common cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease, killing about 580,000 people a year.
Every day before dawn, brave men and women of different races and backgrounds rise as one, united by a common cause.
In this one respect, the virtues and vices of the day made, it might almost be said, common cause.
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century | Charles J. Abbey and John H. OvertonWhenever the political parties of a country merge their differences of opinion in one common cause, the end may be foreseen.
Spanish Life in Town and Country | L. Higgin and Eugne E. StreetYou thus perceive, Madam, how the priests have made common cause with the Divinity.
Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry HolbachA common cause alone could bring about union, and such a cause was soon to be found.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William HuntOne and all metaphorically shook hands and made common cause together.
Johnny Ludlow, Fourth Series | Mrs. Henry Wood
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