common cause

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

To test that idea, the team exposed mice to a protein from house dust mites, a common cause of allergic asthma.

From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026

“The sticking point was always the Strategic Defense Initiative, which Reagan thinks is essential and Gorbachev thinks is a deal-breaker in their common cause of eliminating nuclear weapons,” Wilson says.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026

The historically anachronistic animated epic introduces its neanderthal champion, Spear, and his partner, a female Tyrannosaurus named Fang, as they find common cause in grief.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026

Pregnancy - like Rose had just experienced - is a common cause.

From BBC • Dec. 11, 2025

Has Reznak made common cause with Hizdahr and the Green Grace and set some trap to snare me?

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin