See under (def 8b).
a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect:
You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?
the reason or motive for some human action:
The good news was a cause for rejoicing.
good or sufficient reason:
to complain without cause; to be dismissed for cause.
any subject of discussion or debate.
a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated:
the Socialist cause; the human rights cause.
the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern:
support for the cause of the American Indian.
verb (used with object), caused, causing.
to be the cause of; bring about.
make common cause, to unite in a joint effort; work together for the same end:
They made common cause with neighboring countries and succeeded in reducing tariffs.
a person, thing, event, state, or action that produces an effect
grounds for action; motive; justification: she had good cause to shout like that
the ideals, etc, of a group or movement: the Communist cause
the welfare or interests of a person or group in a dispute: they fought for the miners’ cause
a matter of widespread concern or importance: the cause of public health
(in the philosophy of Aristotle) any of four requirements for a thing’s coming to be, namely material (material cause), its nature (formal cause), an agent (efficient cause), and a purpose (final cause)
make common cause with, to join with (a person, group, etc) for a common objective
(transitive) to be the cause of; bring about; precipitate; be the reason for
(philosophy) the end or purpose of a thing or process, as opposed to its efficient cause See cause (sense 7)
c.1200, “reason for action, grounds for action; motive,” from Old French cause “cause, reason; lawsuit, case in law” (12c.), and directly from Latin causa “a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit,” of unknown origin.
In English, sense of “matter of concern; side taken in controversy” is from c.1300; that of “the source of an effect” is early 14c.; meaning “reason for something taking place” is late 14c. Cause célèbre “celebrated legal case” is 1763, from French. Cause why? “for what reason?” is in Chaucer.
late 14c., “produce an effect,” also “impel, compel,” from Old French causer “to cause” (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin causare, from Latin causa “a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit,” of unknown origin. Related: Caused; causing. Classical Latin causari meant “to plead, to debate a question.”
[fil-ee] /ˈfɪl i/ noun, plural fillies. 1. a young female horse. 2. Informal. a girl or young woman. /ˈfɪlɪ/ noun (pl) -lies 1. a female horse or pony under the age of four 2. (informal, rare) a spirited girl or young woman n. c.1400, fyly, possibly from Old Norse fylja, fem. of foli “foal” (see […]
[fil-uhp] /ˈfɪlˌʌp/ noun 1. an act or instance of filling up, as a tank with fuel.
- Fill someone in
verb phrase To complete someone’s knowledge; brief someone; PUT someone IN THE PICTURE: Fill me in so I know what’s up here (1945+)
- Fill-out form
programming A type of user interface used, for example, on the World-Wide Web, to organise a set of questions or options for the user so that it resembles a traditional paper form that is filled out. Typical query types are: fill-in-the-blank (text), menu of options, select zero or more, or select exactly one (“radio buttons”). […]