cause and effect

noun

plural causes and effects

: the direct relationship between an action or event and its consequence or result

There was an accident, so traffic was at a standstill. The gravitational pull of the moon causes the tides of the ocean. I stuck to a training plan, so I finished my race strong. Cause and effect is a concept we all learn in grade school, and we see it play out in hundreds of circumstances every day.

—Ben Gibson

"Human nature is to look for cause and effect," says Robert Baloh, professor of neurology and head and neck surgery at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. … "I see this daily when I see patients. They're all sure something they ate or something they did caused their problem and their symptoms."

—Frank Bures

… focused on observable and verifiable causes and effects in the natural world …

—Rafi Eis

Examples of cause and effect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While the study could not determine cause and effect, one explanation for the uptick could be that women already had a problem with alcohol before the pandemic, said Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, assistant professor of population health at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, via email. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024

Natural selection shaped the human brain to navigate the world by inferring cause and effect. —Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024

This set of six brightly colored, graduated discs spin down a corkscrew pole, encouraging hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and the concept of cause and effect. —Julie Evans, Parents, 22 Mar. 2024

The odds that this chain of causes and effects might actually come to pass — and affect the specific physicians in the case — boggles the mind. —Noah Feldman, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024

The activities on the solid wood cube offer learning opportunities for matching, exploring cause and effect, and practicing hand-eye coordination. —Julie Evans, Parents, 22 Mar. 2024

While some human studies have found phthalates, one of the most common chemicals used to make plastic, may cause more weight gain during pregnancy and increase a woman’s risk for gestational diabetes, these studies have not yet proven cause and effect. —Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 16 Mar. 2024

Scientific studies are often criticized by the plastic industry as not being specific or as able to show only an association, not cause and effect, due to ethical concerns about experimenting on humans. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024

The study’s relatively small number of participants means establishing cause and effect is statistically impossible. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above