cause

 
Pronunciation: /kɔːz/

noun

  • 1a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition: the cause of the accident is not clear
  • [mass noun] reasonable grounds for doing, thinking, or feeling something: Faye’s condition had given no cause for concern [count noun]: class size is a cause for complaint in some schools
  • 2a principle, aim, or movement to which one is committed and which one is prepared to defend or advocate: she devoted her whole adult life to the cause of deaf people I’m raising money for good causes
  • 3a matter to be resolved in a court of law: forty-five causes were entered in the list for the March session
  • an individual’s case offered at law: the rule that no man should be a judge in his own cause

verb

[with object]
  • make (something, especially something bad) happen: this disease can cause blindness [with object and infinitive]: we have no idea what has happened to cause people to stay away [with two objects]: you could cause them problems

Phrases

cause and effect

the principle of causation: the post-Cartesian attempt to see everything as governed by simple laws of cause and effect
the operation or relation of a cause and its effect: cause and effect play an important part in the universe

cause of action

Law a fact or facts that enable a person to bring an action against another: the plaintiff had a good cause of action in negligence

in the cause of

so as to support, promote, or defend something: he gave his life in the cause of freedom

make common cause

unite in order to achieve a shared aim: nationalist movements made common cause with the reformers

a rebel without a cause

a person who is dissatisfied with society but does not have a specific aim to fight for: he was a rebel without a cause, a born mutineer
[from the title of a US film, released in 1955]

Derivatives

causeless

adjective

causer

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French, from Latin causa (noun), causare (verb)