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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.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After working as a legislative staffer and serving a stint at Common Cause, the good-government lobbying group, Alexander took over the California Voter Foundation in 1994.

From Los Angeles Times

MenB is the most common cause of meningococcal meningitis in the UK, but routine vaccinations were only rolled out in 2015, meaning the current generation of students and others in their late teens are not covered.

From BBC

MenB is the most common cause of meningococcal meningitis in the UK, but routine vaccinations were only rolled out in 2015 so the current generation of students and others in their late teens would not be covered.

From BBC

Foley, who doesn’t drive a state car, is “an extremely detailed stickler” for accountability and transparency, said Gavin Geis, executive director of nonprofit Common Cause Nebraska.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Science Daily