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cause
1[kawz]
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.
You have been the cause of much anxiety.
was the cause of the accident?
the reason or motive for some human action.
The good news was a cause for rejoicing.
good or sufficient reason.
to complain without cause;
to be dismissed for cause.
Law.
a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law.
a case for judicial decision.
any subject of discussion or debate.
a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated.
the Socialist cause;
the human rights cause.
the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern.
support for the cause of the American Indian.
Philosophy.
the end or purpose for which a thing is done or produced.
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)
to be the cause of; bring about.
Synonyms: , , ,
'cause
2[kawz, kuhz, kuhz]
conjunction
a shortened form of because.
cause
/ ɔː /
noun
a person, thing, event, state, or action that produces an effect
grounds for action; motive; justification
she had good cause to shout like that
the ideals, etc, of a group or movement
the Communist cause
the welfare or interests of a person or group in a dispute
they fought for the miners' cause
a matter of widespread concern or importance
the cause of public health
a ground for legal action; matter giving rise to a lawsuit
the lawsuit itself
(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)
to join with (a person, group, etc) for a common objective
verb
(tr) to be the cause of; bring about; precipitate; be the reason for
Other Word Forms
- causable adjective
- causability noun
- causeless adjective
- causelessly adverb
- causelessness noun
- causer noun
- noncausable adjective
- self-caused adjective
- subcause noun
- uncausable adjective
- undercause noun
- ˈܲ adjective
- ˈܲ noun
- ˌܲˈٲ noun
- ˈܲ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of cause1
Origin of cause2
Word History and Origins
Origin of cause1
Idioms and Phrases
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.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
The Helen Bamber Foundation, a human rights groups, has previously said that accommodating people at the base causes harm to their physical and mental health.
"For me, I can only look at them with contempt, because I see on the ground the suffering that their neglect has caused," she added.
His pitching mechanics became more consistent, generating the kind of power and accuracy to cause people to repeatedly use the word “special” in describing him on the mound.
Tomas De Jesus, Ramirez’s cousin and his attorney, said authorities are accusing him of “resisting arrest, assaulting people” after agents barged into a private business, “without a warrant, without a probable cause.”
On Thursday, he suggested in his own jumbled way that perhaps deporting thousands of the state’s farm and hospitality workers might cause pain to his friends, their employers.
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When To Use
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.
- Used in a sentence: My late-night partying caused me to fail my exam.
- Used in a sentence: The lawyer argued that the company had fired his client without good cause.
- 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.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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