REASON | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of reason in English reasonnoun uk /ˈriː.zən/ us /ˈriː.zən/

reason noun (EXPLANATION)

Add to word list Add to word list A2 [ C or U ] the cause of an event or situation or something that provides an excuse or explanation: reason for The reason for the disaster was engine failure, not human error. [ + question word ] The reason why grass is green was a mystery to the little boy. [ + (that) ] The reason (that) I'm calling is to ask a favour.reason is because not standard The reason I walked out was because I was bored. [ + to infinitive ] The police have (every good) reason to believe that he is guilty.with reason She was furious, and with reason (= with good cause).for reasons best known to yourself For reasons best known to himself (= for reasons no one else knows about) he's decided to leave his job.for some reason For some reason, he's never fined for speeding. the cause of something

• reasonI frankly don’t understand the reason for the delay.
• causeInvestigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
• rootWe need to get to the root of her problems.
• motiveThere seems to have been no motive for the murder.
• ground(s)On what grounds was she dismissed?

See more results »  by reason of formal because of: He's always asked to these occasions by reason of his position. See more

• I see no reason for us to depart from our usual practice.
• Car exhaust is the main reason for the city's pollution.
• I go to church for weddings but not for any other reason.
• For some reason the story caught the imagination of the public.
• We made this decision purely for financial reasons.

Motives and reasons

• agenda
• autotelic
• cause
• causeless
• drive
• first principles
• from a place of idiom
• inclination
• justification
• justification for something/doing something
• mainspring
• motivation
• motive
• peg
• place
• self-justification
• should
• wherefores
• why
• without cause

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Reasons and explanations

reason noun (JUDGMENT)

[ U ] the ability of a healthy mind to think and make judgments, especially based on practical facts: the power of reason We humans believe that we are the only animals to have the power of reason.lose your reason mainly UK old-fashioned He lost his reason (= became mentally ill) when both his parents were killed in the crash.  within reason C2 within the limits of what is acceptable and possible: We can wear anything we like to the office, within reason. See more

• He argued that morality could be conceptualized as a series of principles based on human reason.
• And did reason prevail over emotion?
• If 20% of the earth's population has 80% of its resources, then it stands to reason that 80% of the population has only 20% of the resources.
• His powers of reason set him apart from the candidates.
• Choose whatever you like from the menu, within reason!

Mind and personality

• -hearted
• -heartedly
• -heartedness
• alexithymia
• allism
• allistic
• alter ego
• ambivert
• Asperger's syndrome
• gender identity
• gestaltist
• neurotypical
• neurotypicality
• noddle
• noetic
• noggin
• psychoanalysis
• psychoanalytic
• subconscious
• superego

See more results »

Grammar

Reason thatWe use reason that before a clause. We often omit that, especially in statements. Reason that is less common and slightly more formal than reason why: … Reason + to-infinitiveWe can use reason with a to-infinitive: … ReasonWe use reason for + noun phrase, not reason of: … Reason forWe use reason for + noun phrase, not reason of: … Reason whyWe use reason why before a clause. We often omit why, especially in statements: …

Idioms

listen to reason or I'll know the reason why reasonverb [ T ] uk /ˈriː.zən/ us /ˈriː.zən/ to try to understand and to make judgments based on practical facts: [ + (that) ] Newton reasoned (that) there must be a force such as gravityreason something out I spent hours reasoning out the solution to the puzzle. Thinking and contemplating

• a brown study idiom
• agonize
• agonize over/about something phrasal verb
• beard stroking
• bethink
• flit
• grapple
• have something on your mind idiom
• heart-searching
• hit on/upon something phrasal verb
• I/we'll (have to) see idiom
• in the cold light of day idiom
• navel
• rationalize
• reckon
• relook at something phrasal verb
• rethink
• revisit
• reweigh
• rumination

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Concluding and deducing

Phrasal verb

reason with someone (Definition of reason from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

reason | American Dictionary

reasonnoun us /ˈri·zən/

reason noun (EXPLANATION)

Add to word list Add to word list [ C/U ] the cause of an event or situation, or something suggested as an explanation: [ C ] She had never stopped by before for any reason. [ C ] There must be a reason why she’s not here yet. [ U ] Adams had good reason to fire Pickering.

reason noun (JUDGMENT)

[ U ] the ability to think and make judgments, esp. good judgments: Meditation seemed to have improved her ability to reason. reasonverb us /ˈri·zən/

reason verb (JUDGE)

to think about and make a good judgment about: [ + (that) clause ] He reasoned (that) he had only four or five years left as an athlete.

reason verb (EXPLAIN)

to argue with and try to persuade someone: [ I ] Grace kept her voice gentle, as if she were reasoning with a child.

reasoning

noun [ U ] us /ˈri·zə·nɪŋ/ I didn’t follow her reasoning. (Definition of reason from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of reason

reason There are a number of reasons for this. From the Cambridge English Corpus The last reason is perhaps the most common. From the Cambridge English Corpus However, this was not always the case, for several reasons. From the Cambridge English Corpus For this reason, the use of an antagonist is unnecessary. From the Cambridge English Corpus A physician was permitted to overrule these recommendations by providing the reason at the bottom of the sheet. From the Cambridge English Corpus A second, perhaps more important reason, is that qualitative insights can be obtained. From the Cambridge English Corpus In such a framework, there would seem to be no reason not to include social meaning along with 'ordinary' semantics and pragmatics. From the Cambridge English Corpus This phonetic aspect is the main important difference between the two cases for other reasons as well. From the Cambridge English Corpus For purely logical reasons, the strongest form of the uniqueness question - is the specific behavior or pattern of behavior found only in the target group? From the Cambridge English Corpus Thus, the dissipation of volume appears for purely topological reasons. From the Cambridge English Corpus The latter include intelligent agents, natural language understanding and processing, reasoning strategies, and knowledge representations and ontologies. From the Cambridge English Corpus In addition, 5 participants died, 5 participants reported being too ill to participate, and 3 were lost due to relocation or other reasons. From the Cambridge English Corpus In other words, voters had good reason to vote strategically within parties to maximize the number of seats their side would win. From the Cambridge English Corpus For different reasons, both parties initially opposed the communitarisation process. From the Cambridge English Corpus Political parties of the so-called radical opposition boycotted the elections for this reason. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of reason These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with reason

reason

These are words often used in combination with reason.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

ample reasonThere is certainly ample reason to believe that they do. From the Cambridge English Corpus   cogent reasonThis is the most cogent reason for treating all journal contributors more respectfully than bestselling authors. From the Cambridge English Corpus   compelling reasonWhat could the compelling reason be? From the Cambridge English Corpus   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with reason What is the pronunciation of reason?

Translations of reason

in Chinese (Traditional) 解釋, 原因, 理由… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 解释, 原因, 理由… See more in Spanish razón, razonamiento, razonar… See more in Portuguese razão, motivo, causa… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian कारण, विचारक्षमता… See more 理由, 原因, 道理… See more neden, sebep, gerekçe… See more raison [feminine], cause [feminine], raisons [feminine… See more raó, motius, raonament… See more reden, rede, redeneren… See more ஒரு நிகழ்வு அல்லது சூழ்நிலையின் காரணம் அல்லது ஒரு சாக்குப்போக்கு அல்லது விளக்கத்தை வழங்கும் ஏதாவது, நடைமுறை உண்மைகளின் அடிப்படையில், ஒரு ஆரோக்கியமான மனதின் சிந்திக்கும் மற்றும் முடிவுகளை எடுக்கும் திறன்… See more कारण, तर्कशक्ति, तर्कयुक्त विचार या निर्णय… See more કારણ, પ્રયોજન, બુધ્ધિશક્તિ… See more årsag, grund, fornuft… See more skäl, anledning, grund… See more penyebab, fikiran, berfikir… See more der Grund, die Vernunft, denken… See more grunn [masculine], årsak [masculine], grunnlag [neuter]… See more وجہ, ہوش مندی, عقل… See more причина, привід, розум… See more కారణం, హేతువు / ముఖ్యంగా ఆచరణాత్మక వాస్తవాల ఆధారంగా ఆలోచించడం, అంచనా వెయ్యడం ఆరోగ్యకరమైన మనస్సుకు ఉండే సామర్థ్యం… See more কারণ, উদ্দেশ্য, হেতু… See more příčina, důvod, rozum… See more penyebab, alasan, akal… See more เหตุผล, การใช้เหตุผล, คิดอย่างมีเหตุผล… See more lý do, lý trí, suy luận… See more powód, przyczyna, rozsądek… See more 근거, 이유, 사리… See more motivo, ragione, ragionare… See more Need a translator?

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rearranged rearrangement rearranging rearview mirror reason reason with someone phrasal verb reasonable reasonableness reasonably {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of reason

• reason with someone phrasal verb
• see sense/reason idiom
• within reason phrase
• within reason idiom
• by reason of phrase
• listen to reason idiom
• see reason, at listen to reason idiom

See all meanings

• reason with someone phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• see sense/reason idiom
• within reason phrase
• within reason idiom
• by reason of phrase
• listen to reason idiom
• see reason, at listen to reason idiom
• it stands to reason (that) idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

goal

UK /ɡəʊl/ US /ɡoʊl/

to be the player who tries to prevent the other team from scoring goals

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • reason (EXPLANATION)
    • by reason of
    • reason (JUDGMENT)
    • within reason
  Verb
• American   
  • Noun 
    • reason (EXPLANATION)
    • reason (JUDGMENT)
  • Verb 
    • reason (JUDGE)
    • reason (EXPLAIN)
  • Noun 
    • reasoning
• Examples
• Collocations

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