Jump To:

• cause
  cause

  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.
• 'cause
  'cause

  conjunction

  a shortened form of because.

cause

¹ American  

[kawz] / kɔz /

noun

• causes
  plural

1. 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?

2. the reason or motive for some human action.

   The good news was a cause for rejoicing.

3. good or sufficient reason.

   to complain without cause;

   to be dismissed for cause.

4. Law.

   1. a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law.

   2. a case for judicial decision.

5. any subject of discussion or debate.

6. a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated.

   the Socialist cause;

   the human rights cause.

7. the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern.

   support for the cause of the American Indian.

8. Philosophy.

   1. the end or purpose for which a thing is done or produced.

   2. 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.

---

verb (used with object)

• causes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• caused,
  past participle,  past
• causing
  present participle

1. to be the cause of; bring about.

   Synonyms:

   produce, create, make, effect

idioms

1. 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.

'cause ² American  

[kawz, kuhz, kuhz] / kɔz, kʌz, kəz /

conjunction

Informal.

1. a shortened form of because.

---

cause British  

/ kɔːz /

noun

1. a person, thing, event, state, or action that produces an effect

2. grounds for action; motive; justification

   she had good cause to shout like that

3. the ideals, etc, of a group or movement

   the Communist cause

4. the welfare or interests of a person or group in a dispute

   they fought for the miners' cause

5. a matter of widespread concern or importance

   the cause of public health

6. 1. a ground for legal action; matter giving rise to a lawsuit

   2. the lawsuit itself

7. (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)

8. to join with (a person, group, etc) for a common objective

---

verb

1. (tr) to be the cause of; bring about; precipitate; be the reason for

cause More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing cause

• lost cause

---

Usage

What is a basic definition of cause? A cause is a person, thing, event, or action that triggers a resulting event. Cause can also mean a motivation or an ideal or goal that a person or group is dedicated to. Cause has several other senses as a noun and one as a verb. In manner of speaking, the cause tells you why something happened. A cause is the spark that lights a fire. The cause of you being sick might be a bacteria or a virus that harms your body. You giving your niece a birthday present might be the cause of her being happy. The word cause is often used with the word effect, which means a resulting action that happens because of a cause.

• Real-life examples: Faulty wiring may be the cause of an electrical fire. John Wilkes Booth was the cause of Abraham Lincoln’s death (because Booth shot Lincoln). A giant iceberg was the cause of the sinking of the Titanic.
• Used in a sentence: Experts are still trying to figure out the cause of the mysterious plane crash. 

In this sense, cause is used as a verb to mean to bring about something.

• Used in a sentence: My late-night partying caused me to fail my exam.

Cause is also used as a synonym for motive or reason, meaning a person’s motivation for doing something. In this sense, cause is often used in law (usually as “just cause” or “sufficient cause”) to determine if someone had a valid reason for doing something.

• Used in a sentence: The lawyer argued that the company had fired his client without good cause.

A cause is something that a person or group believes in or an ideal or goal that they have dedicated themselves to.

• Real-life examples: Antiracism is a cause that wants to end racism. Environmentalism is a cause that wants to protect the environment from damage. If a friend of yours is very sick and you start a collection to help with medical bills, that too is a cause.
• Used in a sentence: I donated $50 to the cancer charity because they have a good cause.

Synonym Usage

Cause, occasion refer to the starting of effects into motion. A cause is an agency, perhaps acting through a long time, or a long-standing situation, that produces an effect: The cause of the quarrel between the two men was jealousy. An occasion is an event that provides an opportunity for the effect to become evident, or perhaps promotes its becoming evident: The occasion was the fact that one man's wages were increased. See reason.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• causability
  noun
• causelessness
  noun
• causer
  noun
• subcause
  noun
• undercause
  noun
• causable
  adjective
• causeless
  adjective
• noncausable
  adjective
• self-caused
  adjective
• uncausable
  adjective
• causelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• causes
  plural

Participles

• causing
  present
• caused
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cause
  simple
• causes
  simple
• have caused
  perfect
• has caused
  perfect
• am causing
  progressive
• are causing
  progressive
• is causing
  progressive
• have been causing
  perfect progressive
• has been causing
  perfect progressive

Past

• caused
  simple
• had caused
  perfect
• was causing
  progressive
• were causing
  progressive
• had been causing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cause
  simple
• will have caused
  perfect
• will be causing
  progressive
• will have been causing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cause¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin causa “case, reason, sake”

Origin of 'cause²

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; aphetic variant

Explanation

A cause makes an effect, and you're likely to hear the phrase "cause and effect" when people are trying to analyze how things happen. Cause can also mean something worth fighting for — like social justice or animal rights. You might raise money for a good cause, like ending poverty. Once the doctor determines the cause of your illness, she might make it her personal cause to discover a cure. The verb cause is all about the action of producing an effect, like when you slice onions and it causes your eyes to water.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cause 'cause causes caused causing

An American defense executive who lives in Riyadh had been waiting in the airport lounge for his flight on Tuesday when Houthi attacks caused delays that would cause him to miss his connecting flight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

The research team plans to study additional population groups in the future and use clinical trials to investigate whether loneliness and social isolation directly cause the health effects observed in the study.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

A 10th inmate died on Sept. 20 from a cause that has yet to be determined pending an autopsy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

Opinions are so deeply divided that any decision is going to cause anger on one side or the other.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Chaulmoogra oil was known to cause abscesses, nausea, and other complications.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

“Or just ‘cause I’m singing about a woman having a baby doesn’t mean I have to wear a maternity smock.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Cosgrove is hopeful that with winter around the corner, relief is on the way: "Eventually they do stop 'cause it gets too cold and wet."

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

George Kamel: I think I’d rather go to the mafia than to my parents, ’cause it creates a really awkward dynamic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

“We let it go a little bit, ’cause we thought she might be out partying,” Gonzalez later told the Star-Telegram.

From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026

“Just ’cause your mom doesn’t want you anymore doesn’t mean you get to call me a baby,” I snarl.

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins

He would argue on behalf of civil rights and nuclear disarmament, and all these other causes that he cared about.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

Beyond suicidal and violent discussions, the new benchmark was intended to measure chatbot responses to everyday causes of stress mentioned by users.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

That interaction causes the filament to transmit radio waves at the supplied frequency.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

O'Keefe who runs Mary O'Keefe relocation, external to help high value residents settle in the island said they contributed a lot to the economy and philanthropic causes.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

“As Cicero once said, ‘The causes of events are ever more interesting than the events themselves,’” Penelope mused.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

An American defense executive who lives in Riyadh had been waiting in the airport lounge for his flight on Tuesday when Houthi attacks caused delays that would cause him to miss his connecting flight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Those initial results showed that nine weeks of treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab before surgery caused major tumor shrinkage in people with stage two or three bowel cancer.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Pike's legal team had previously objected to the execution IV protocol, saying it would have caused needless suffering due to her small veins and a blood condition.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

Posting on its account on X, the City of Newport Beach advised people to "avoid the Balboa Peninsula due to street flooding caused by recent storm conditions and elevated tides".

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

My own pain was there all along, even if it was below the surface, even if it wasn’t as visible as the pain I had caused others.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

“If this hurricane ends up causing refinery flooding, it would exacerbate an already tight market for refined products, further pushing up prices at the pump,” Molchanov told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

Plus, the push for digital sovereignty is causing big headaches for multinational companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

A major new lawsuit argues the state is taking far too much water out of the Delta, harming native fish and the ecosystem, causing toxic algae blooms, and threatening local farms and communities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

"In line with Welsh government policy, we are prioritising the overflows causing the greatest environmental harm."

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The stove kettle whistled, causing Viper to scurry from the kitchen.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Related Words

• element
• explanation
• matter
• motivation
• motive
• origin
• principle
• purpose
• root
• source