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

“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

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

"I'm forging a new relationship with Canada. We've got a new leader, we've got a new prime minister... and we seem to have common cause on trying to get a new pipeline built," she said.

From Barron's

It also found circulatory diseases to be the most common cause of death at 17.6%, compared with respiratory conditions in the original report.

From BBC

Mr. Johnson showed Britain that some leading voices on the American right aren’t writing off Europe and still value alliances in the common cause of defending liberty.

From The Wall Street Journal