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
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
Frank Bures… focused on observable and verifiable causes and effects in the natural world …—Rafi Eis
Rafi EisExamples of cause and effect in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
My medical invoices had descriptive line items and when placed next to photos of the mouldy air-conditioning units, told a plain story of cause and effect.
—Melissa Kenny, refinery29.com, 30 Oct. 2024
But deep learning is fundamentally blind to cause and effect.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 8 Oct. 2019
But after living through the war firsthand, one artist came to the conclusion that the cause and effect should be flipped.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
The study design could not demonstrate cause and effect, however, but only correlation.
—Blake Murdoch, Scientific American, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cause and effect 
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Melissa Kenny, refinery29.com, 30 Oct. 2024
But deep learning is fundamentally blind to cause and effect.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 8 Oct. 2019
But after living through the war firsthand, one artist came to the conclusion that the cause and effect should be flipped.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
The study design could not demonstrate cause and effect, however, but only correlation.
—Blake Murdoch, Scientific American, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cause and effect
Dictionary Entries Near cause and effect
Cite this Entry
“Cause and effect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cause%20and%20effect. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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