cause

cause
[[t]kɔ͟ːz[/t]]
♦
causes, causing, caused
1) N-COUNT: oft N of n The cause of an event, usually a bad event, is the thing that makes it happen.

Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death and disease...

The causes are a complex blend of local and national tensions.

Ant:
2) VERB To cause something, usually something bad, means to make it happen.

[V n] Attempts to limit family size among some minorities are likely to cause problems...

[V n n] This was a genuine mistake, but it did cause me some worry.

[V n to-inf] ...a protein that gets into animal cells and attacks other proteins, causing disease to spread.

[V-ed] ...the damage to Romanian democracy caused by events of the past few days.

3) N-UNCOUNT: N for n, N to-inf If you have cause for a particular feeling or action, you have good reasons for feeling it or doing it.

Only a few people can find any cause for celebration...

Both had much cause to be grateful for the secretiveness of government in Britain.

Syn:
4) N-COUNT A cause is an aim or principle which a group of people supports or is fighting for.
→ See also lost cause

Refusing to have one leader has not helped the cause.

5) PHRASE You use cause and effect to talk about the way in which one thing is caused by another.

At fourteen he still had no grasp of cause and effect.

6) PHRASE: V inflects If one group of people makes common cause with another, they act together in order to achieve a particular aim even though their aims and beliefs are normally very different. [JOURNALISM]

They make common cause for a few purposes, but for the most part, they pursue their own interests.

7) PHRASE If you say that something is in a good cause, or for a good cause, you mean that it is worth doing or giving to because it will help other people, for example by raising money for charity.

The Raleigh International Bike Ride is open to anyone who wants to raise money for a good cause.


English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • cause — 1 n 1: something that brings about an effect or result the negligent act which was the cause of the plaintiff s injury ◇ The cause of an injury must be proven in both tort and criminal cases. actual cause: cause in fact in this entry but–for… …   Law dictionary

  • cause — [ koz ] n. f. • XIIe; lat. causa « cause » et « procès » → chose I ♦ Ce qui produit un effet (considéré par rapport à cet effet). 1 ♦ (1170) Ce par quoi un événement, une action humaine arrive, se fait. ⇒ origine; motif, objet, raison, 3. sujet.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Cause — • Cause, as the correlative of effect, is understood as being that which in any way gives existence to, or contributes towards the existence of, any thing; which produces a result; to which the origin of any thing is to be ascribed Catholic… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • cause — CAUSE. s. f. Principe, ce qui fait qu une chose est. Dieu est la première de toutes les causes, la cause des causes, la souveraine cause, la cause universelle. On appelle Dieu, absolument et par excellence, Cause première, comme on appelle les… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • cause — Cause, qui fait faire quelque chose, Causa. La meilleure cause et la pire, Superior causa et inferior. B. ex Cicerone. Les causes durent tousjours et perseverent, Manent causae. Tu as ouy les causes de mon conseil, Audisti consilij mei motus. Par …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • cause — CAUSE. s. f. Principe, ce qui fait qu une chose est. Dieu est la premiere de toutes les causes, la cause des causes, la souveraine cause. On appelle Dieu absolument & par excellence, Cause premiere; comme on appelle les creatures Causes secondes …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Cause — (k[add]z), n. [F. cause, fr. L. causa. Cf. {Cause}, v., {Kickshaw}.] 1. That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist. [1913 Webster] Cause is substance exerting its power into… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cause — cause, causal explanation In non specialist contexts, to ask for the cause of some particular happening is to ask what made it happen, or brought it about. To give a causal explanation is to answer such questions, usually by specifying some prior …   Dictionary of sociology

  • cause — n 1 Cause, determinant, antecedent, reason, occasion are comparable when denoting what in whole or in part produces an effect or result. Cause is applicable to an agent (as a circumstance, condition, event, or force) that contributes to the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • cause — [kôz] n. [ME < OFr < L causa, a cause, reason, judicial process, lawsuit: infl. (in CAUSE senses 4 & 5) by CASE1] 1. anything producing an effect or result 2. a person or thing acting voluntarily or involuntarily as the agent that brings… …   English World dictionary

  • causé — causé, ée (kô zé, zée) part. passé. 1°   Produit par une cause. •   Toutes choses étant causées ou causantes, PASC. dans COUSIN. 2°   Occasionné. Un incendie causé par un accident. 3°   Motivé. •   M. de Bouillon voulait une absence, et une… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

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