'Cause' definitions:
Definition of 'cause'
From: WordNet
noun
Events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something; "they are trying to determine the cause of the crash"
noun
A justification for something existing or happening; "he had no cause to complain"; "they had good reason to rejoice" [syn: cause, reason, grounds]
noun
A series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported populist campaigns"; "they worked in the cause of world peace"; "the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant"; "the movement to end slavery"; "contributed to the war effort" [syn: campaign, cause, crusade, drive, movement, effort]
noun
Any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results [syn: causal agent, cause, causal agency]
noun
A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy; "the family brought suit against the landlord" [syn: lawsuit, suit, case, cause, causa]
verb
Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" [syn: cause, do, make]
verb
Definition of 'Cause'
From: GCIDE
- Cause \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 act, to make one thing begin to be. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
- 2. That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground; reason; motive; as, cause for rejoicing. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Sake; interest; advantage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- I did it not for his cause. --2 Cor. vii. 12. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Law) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question; affair in general. [1913 Webster]
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause! --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 6. The side of a question, which is espoused, advocated, and upheld by a person or party; a principle which is advocated; that which a person or party seeks to attain. [1913 Webster]
- God befriend us, as our cause is just. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
- Efficient cause, the agent or force that produces a change or result.
- Final cause, the end, design, or object, for which anything is done.
- Formal cause, the elements of a conception which make the conception or the thing conceived to be what it is; or the idea viewed as a formative principle and cooperating with the matter.
- Material cause, that of which anything is made.
- Proximate cause. See under Proximate.
- To make common cause with, to join with in purposes and aims. --Macaulay.
- Syn: Origin; source; mainspring; motive; reason; incitement; inducement; purpose; object; suit; action. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Cause'
From: GCIDE
- Cause \Cause\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caused; p. pr. & vb. n. Causing.] [F. causer, fr. cause, fr. L. causa. See Cause, n., and cf. Acouse.] To effect as an agent; to produce; to be the occasion of; to bring about; to bring into existence; to make; -- usually followed by an infinitive, sometimes by that with a finite verb. [1913 Webster]
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days. --Gen. vii. 4. [1913 Webster]
- Cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans. --Col. iv. 16.
- Syn: To create; produce; beget; effect; occasion; originate; induce; bring about. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Cause'
From: GCIDE
- Cause \Cause\, v. i. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Cause'
From: GCIDE
- Cause \Cause\, conj. Abbreviation of Because. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'cause'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accomplish,
- achieve,
- act,
- action,
- activity,
- agency,
- agent,
- ambition,
- antecedent,
- aspiration,
- author,
- basis,
- be productive,
- bear,
- beget,
- belief,
- bind,
- breed,
- bring about,
- bring forth,
- bring into being,
- bring on,
- bring to effect,
- bring to fruition,
- bring to pass,
- call,
- call forth,
- call up,
- calling,
- campaign,
- case,
- cause in court,
- cause to,
- commitment,
- compel,
- conceive,
- concern,
- consideration,
- constrain,
- create,
- creator,
- crusade,
- determinant,
- do,
- draw on,
- drive,
- effect,
- effectuate,
- elicit,
- enforce,
- engender,
- engineer,
- establish,
- evoke,
- execute,
- faith,
- father,
- force,
- found,
- foundation,
- generate,
- generator,
- genesis,
- gestate,
- get up,
- give birth to,
- give occasion to,
- give origin to,
- give rise to,
- goad,
- goal,
- good reason,
- great cause,
- ground,
- grounds,
- guiding light,
- guiding star,
- hatch,
- have,
- ideal,
- impel,
- impulse,
- inaugurate,
- incentive,
- induce,
- inducement,
- industrialize,
- inspiration,
- inspire,
- institute,
- intention,
- interest,
- issue,
- judicial process,
- justification,
- lawsuit,
- lead to,
- legal action,
- legal case,
- legal proceedings,
- legal process,
- legal remedy,
- lifework,
- litigation,
- lodestar,
- mainspring,
- make,
- mass movement,
- mass-produce,
- material basis,
- matter,
- motivate,
- motive,
- movement,
- muster up,
- necessity,
- obligation,
- occasion,
- origin,
- originate,
- originator,
- overproduce,
- perform,
- precipitate,
- prime mover,
- principle,
- proceedings,
- produce,
- producer,
- promote,
- prompt,
- prosecution,
- provoke,
- realize,
- reason,
- reason for being,
- restrain,
- right,
- root,
- sake,
- score,
- secure,
- set afloat,
- set on foot,
- set up,
- sire,
- source,
- spring,
- substance,
- suit,
- suit at law,
- summon up,
- tie,
- ulterior motive,
- undertaking,
- use force upon,
- vocation,
- volume-produce,
- warrant,
- work,
- work up
Words containing 'Cause'
- Caused,
- Causeful,
- Causing,
- Causes of instance,
- Efficient cause,
- Exciting causes,
- Final cause,
- Formal cause,
- Material cause,
- Predisponent causes,
- Predisposing causes,
- Probable cause,
- Proximate cause,
- cause celebre,
- cause of action,
- cause of death,
- cause to be perceived,
- cause to sleep,
- first cause,
- lost cause,
- To make common cause with,
- To cause the face to shine upon