Cause

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·v Sake; interest; advantage.

II. Cause ·conj Abbreviation of Because.

III. Cause ·vi To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.

IV. Cause ·v Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question; affair in general.

V. Cause ·v That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground; reason; motive; as, cause for rejoicing.

VI. Cause ·v That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist.

VII. Cause ·v 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.

VIII. Cause ·v 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.

IX. Cause ·noun 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.