Library / English Dictionary

CAUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results

Synonyms:

causal agency; causal agent; cause

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Hypernyms ("cause" is a kind of...):

physical entity (an entity that has physical existence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cause"):

agent (a substance that exerts some force or effect)

danger (a cause of pain or injury or loss)

cause of death; killer (the causal agent resulting in death)

engine (something used to achieve a purpose)

life principle; vital principle (a hypothetical force to which the functions and qualities peculiar to living things are sometimes ascribed)

force; power (one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority)

manipulator; operator (an agent that operates some apparatus or machine)

deus ex machina (any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an insoluble difficulty)

catalyst (something that causes an important event to happen)

destiny; fate (the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman))

first cause; prime mover; primum mobile (an agent that is the cause of all things but does not itself have a cause)

theurgy (the effect of supernatural or divine intervention in human affairs)

occult; supernatural (supernatural forces and events and beings collectively)

nature (a causal agent creating and controlling things in the universe)

agent (an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect)

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Derivation:

causal (involving or constituting a cause; causing)

cause (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

cause (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end

Example:

contributed to the war effort

Synonyms:

campaign; cause; crusade; drive; effort; movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("cause" is a kind of...):

venture (any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cause"):

youth crusade; youth movement (political or religious or social reform movement or agitation consisting chiefly of young people)

war (a concerted campaign to end something that is injurious)

reform (a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices)

lost cause (a defeated cause or a cause for which defeat is inevitable)

gay lib; gay liberation movement (the movement aimed at liberating homosexuals from legal or social or economic oppression)

feminism; feminist movement; women's lib; women's liberation movement (the movement aimed at equal rights for women)

fund-raising campaign; fund-raising drive; fund-raising effort (a campaign to raise money for some cause)

campaigning; candidacy; candidature; electioneering; political campaign (the campaign of a candidate to be elected)

consumerism (a movement advocating greater protection of the interests of consumers)

charm campaign (a campaign of flattery and friendliness (by a company, politician, etc.) to become more popular and gain support)

anti-war movement (a campaign against entering or continuing a war)

ad blitz; ad campaign; advertising campaign (an organized program of advertisements)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy

Example:

the family brought suit against the landlord

Synonyms:

case; causa; cause; lawsuit; suit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("cause" is a kind of...):

legal proceeding; proceeding; proceedings ((law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cause"):

bastardy proceeding; paternity suit (a lawsuit filed to determine the father of a child born out of wedlock (and to provide for the support of the child once paternity is determined))

moot (a hypothetical case that law students argue as an exercise)

criminal suit (a lawsuit alleging violations of criminal law by the defendant)

countersuit (a suit brought against someone who has sued you)

class-action suit; class action (a lawsuit brought by a representative member of a large group of people on behalf of all members of the group)

civil suit (a lawsuit alleging violations of civil law by the defendant)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A justification for something existing or happening

Example:

they had good reason to rejoice

Synonyms:

cause; grounds; reason

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("cause" is a kind of...):

justification (a statement in explanation of some action or belief)

Derivation:

causal (involving or constituting a cause; causing)

cause (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

cause (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something

Example:

they are trying to determine the cause of the crash

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("cause" is a kind of...):

inception; origin; origination (an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cause"):

antecedent (a preceding occurrence or cause or event)

aetiology; etiology (the cause of a disease)

factor (anything that contributes causally to a result)

producer (something that produces)

mutagenesis (an event capable of causing a mutation)

Derivation:

causal (involving or constituting a cause; causing)

cause (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

cause (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner

Example:

My wife made me buy a new sofa

Synonyms:

cause; get; have; induce; make; stimulate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cause"):

compel; obligate; oblige (force somebody to do something)

suborn (induce to commit perjury or give false testimony)

inspire; instigate; prompt (serve as the inciting cause of)

lead (cause to undertake a certain action)

let (actively cause something to happen)

encourage (spur on)

solicit (incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination)

bring (induce or persuade)

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

decide (cause to decide)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s somebody INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They cause him to write the letter

Derivation:

cause (events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something)

cause (a justification for something existing or happening)

cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

causative (producing an effect)

causation (the act of causing something to happen)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally

Example:

cause an accident

Synonyms:

cause; do; make

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "cause" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cause"):

determine; influence; mold; regulate; shape (shape or influence; give direction to)

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

effect; effectuate; set up (produce)

make (compel or make somebody or something to act in a certain way)

occasion (give occasion to)

call forth; evoke; kick up; provoke (evoke or provoke to appear or occur)

breed; engender; spawn (call forth)

actuate; incite; motivate; move; prompt; propel (give an incentive for action)

force; impel (urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate)

facilitate (increase the likelihood of (a response))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

causation (the act of causing something to happen)

causative (producing an effect)

cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

cause (a justification for something existing or happening)

cause (events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Was it not for these causes that you send for me when the great trouble came?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

And found a cause for the crime.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A considerable period elapsed before I discovered one of the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family: it was poverty, and they suffered that evil in a very distressing degree.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A death which has caused my brother to alter his habits can be no ordinary one.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Because I fear,” replied the lawyer solemnly. “God grant I have no cause for it!”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The captain, who had so long been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the wicked cease from troubling.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

MEN2B is caused by a mutation (change) in a gene called RET.

(MEN2B, NCI Dictionary)

MEN2A syndrome is caused by a mutation (change) in a gene called RET.

(MEN2A syndrome, NCI Dictionary)

MEN2A is caused by a mutation (change) in a gene called RET.

(MEN2A, NCI Dictionary)

Should you come to Norwich you may have cause to remember that you have been of service to Alderman Micheldene.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)