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

This tag allows those cells to be specifically reactivated by sickness and connect a cause and effect despite the time delay. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 2 Apr. 2025

So all the stuff that’s going on in society that’s the downfall of us is cause and effect. —Quentin Thane Singer, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025

With those case outcomes, many plaintiffs have shifted their strategies, focusing more on state courts and seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for allegedly deceiving the public about the causes and effects of climate change. —Hannah Wiseman, The Conversation, 18 Apr. 2025

This results show an association not cause and effect. —Sheah Rarback, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cause and effect

• affect
• aspect
• bedecked
• bisect
• collect
• connect
• correct
• deflect
• detect
• direct
• dissect
• eject