Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The producer of an effect, result, or consequence.
- noun The one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result.
- noun A basis for an action or response; a reason.
- noun A goal or principle served with dedication and zeal.
- noun The interests of a person or group engaged in a struggle.
- noun A lawsuit or criminal prosecution.
- noun The ground or basis for a lawsuit.
- noun A subject under debate or discussion.
- transitive verb To be the cause of or reason for; result in.
- transitive verb To bring about or compel by authority or force.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun That by the power of which an event or thing is; a principle from which an effect arises; that upon which something depends per se; in general, anything which stands to something else in a real relation analogous to the mental relation of the antecedent to the consequent of a conditional proposition.
- noun Specifically An antecedent upon which an effect follows according to a law of nature; an efficient cause.
- noun The reason or motive for mental action or decision; ground for action in general.
- noun In law, a legal proceeding between adverse parties; a case for judicial decision. See
case , 5. - noun In a general sense, any subject of question or debate; a subject of special interest or concern; business; affair.
- noun Advantage; interest; sake.
- noun That side of a question which an individual or party takes up; that object to which the efforts of a person or party are directed.
- To make; force; compel; with an infinitive after the object: as, the storm caused him to seek shelter.
- To show cause; give reasons.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
- transitive verb 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. - noun That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist.
- noun That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground; reason; motive.
- noun obsolete Sake; interest; advantage.
- noun (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.
- noun Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question; affair in general.
- noun 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.
- noun the agent or force that produces a change or result.
- noun the end, design, or object, for which anything is done.
- noun 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 coöperating with the matter.
- noun that of which anything is made.
- noun See under
Proximate . - noun to join with in purposes and aims.
- conjunction Abbreviation of
because .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
source orreason of anevent oraction - noun A
goal ,aim orprinciple , especially one whichtranscends purelyselfish ends. - verb To
set off an event or action. - verb To actively
produce as aresult , by means of force or authority.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a justification for something existing or happening
- noun any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results
- noun events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something
- noun a comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy
- verb give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
- noun a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end
- verb cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Maybe I could be a singer, cause I didn't really start singing until I was pretty old, 'cause I didn't have no apparent talent for it.
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(Soundbite of song, "You're A Rich Girl") HALL & OATES (Musicians, Singer-songwriters): (Singing) ... never be strong cause, you're a rich girl, rich girl, and you've gone too far 'cause you know it don't matter anyway, rich girl.
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Maybe I could be a singer, cause I didn't really start singing until I was pretty old, 'cause I didn't have no apparent talent for it.
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I say that cause that's how I'm going to move on and keep going and 'cause in a lot of ways it is fine.
Archive 2009-04-01 Megan aka Mmapula Reamogetse 2009
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I say that cause that's how I'm going to move on and keep going and 'cause in a lot of ways it is fine.
I'm now a close friend of Megan, we eat chocolates, popcorns, apples together Megan aka Mmapula Reamogetse 2009
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Maybe I'm nuts, maybe it's cause I'm an island boy through and through, or maybe the astrologists have something after all, and it's 'cause I'm a water sign, but whatever it is, days like this feel a lot more like vacation than the sunny ones for me.
Put your Norton Anthologies up in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care justnick 2009
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Why'd you gots to cause wank just 'cause there isn't any, huh?
Brat Twitters matgb 2008
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Although Aristotle is careful to distinguish four different kinds of cause (or four different senses of ˜cause™), it is important to note that he claims that one and the same thing can be a cause in more than one sense.
Aristotle's Metaphysics Cohen, S. Marc 2008
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Stopped reading at that point – ‘cause if WAG can’t get it by now God help Wales 'cause WAG is not helping.
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I figured it's cause they forgot to eat and because they're keyed up and nervous -- not necessarily 'cause they're thinking.
Losing weight... Ann Althouse 2007
oroboros commented on the word cause
He arose (standing as tall as possible)
and declared (sounding as intelligent as possible):
“I regret – I regret I say, that I have but one mind to give to the cause,�? and the cause muttered: “Thank you sweet Jesus!�?
--Jan Cox
August 29, 2007
brobbins commented on the word cause
creator, maker
July 22, 2009