Reason definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

reason in American English · 1. an explanation or justification of an act, idea, etc. · 2. a cause or motive · 3. the ability to think, form judgments, draw ... EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Sentences Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Chinese Korean Definitionof 'reason'    WordFrequency Share× Credits× reason (riːzən ) Wordforms:plural,3rdpersonsingularpresent tensereasons ,presentparticiplereasoning ,pasttense,pastparticiplereasoned 1. countablenoun Thereasonforsomethingisafactorsituationwhichexplainswhyithappensorwhatcausesittohappen. Thereisareasonforeveryimportantthingthathappens.[+for] Whowouldhaveareasontowanttokillher?[NOUNto-infinitive] ...thereasonwhyItaliantomatoeshavesomuchflavour. TheonlyreasonIwentwasbecauseIwastoldto. MyparentscametoGermanyforbusinessreasons. Theexactlocationsarebeingkeptsecretforreasonsofsecurity. Synonyms:cause,grounds,purpose,motive MoreSynonymsofreason 2. uncountablenoun[usuallyNOUNto-infinitive] Ifyousaythatyouhavereasontobelievesomethingortohaveaparticularemotion,youmeanthatyouhaveevidenceforyourbelieforthereisadefinitecauseofyourfeeling. Theyhadreasontobelievetherecouldbetrouble. Hehadeveryreasontobeupset. Hedoesn'ttrustme.Withgoodreason. 3. uncountablenoun Theabilitythatpeoplehavetothinkandtomakesensiblejudgmentscanbereferredtoasreason. ...aconflictbetweenemotionandreason. Mikeismyvoiceofreason.HethinkslogicallyandpointsoutwhereI'mgoingwrong. Synonyms:sense,mind,reasoning,understanding MoreSynonymsofreason 4. verb Ifyoureasonthatsomethingistrue,youdecidethatitistrueafterthinkingcarefullyaboutallthefacts. Ireasonedthatchangingmydietwouldlowermycholesterollevel.[VERBthat] 'Listen,'Ireasoned,'itdoesn'ttakeageniustofigureoutwhatAdam'supto.'[VERBwithquote] Synonyms:deduce,conclude,workout,solve MoreSynonymsofreason 5. Seealsoreasoned,reasoning 6. Seeforreasonsbestknowntooneself 7. Seebyreasonof 8. Seelistentoreason 9. Seefornoreason/fornoreasonatall 10. Seereasonforliving/reasonforbeing 11. Seeforsomereason 12. Seewithinreason 13. rhymeorreason 14. toseereason 15. itstandstoreason Phrasalverbs:Seereasonwith MoreSynonymsofreason COBUILDAdvancedEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Video:pronunciationof reason Youmayalsolike EnglishQuizConfusables Synonymsof'reason' LanguageLover'sBlog FrenchTranslationof'reason' Translateyourtext PronunciationPlaylists Wordoftheday:'romcom' HindiTranslationof'reason' NEWfromCollins! EnglishGrammar CollinsApps WordFrequency reasoninBritishEnglish (ˈriːzən ) noun1. thefacultyofrationalargument,deduction,judgment,etc 2. soundmind;sanity 3. acauseormotive,asforabelief,action,etc 4. anargumentinfavouroforajustificationforsomething 5. philosophy theintellectregardedasasourceofknowledge,ascontrastedwithexperience 6. logic groundsforabelief;apremiseofanargumentsupportingthatbelief 7. Seebyreasonof 8. Seeinreason 9. Seeitstandstoreason 10. Seelistentoreason 11. SeereasonsofState verb12. (whentr,takesaclauseasobject) tothinklogicallyordraw(logicalconclusions)fromfactsorpremises 13. (intransitive;usuallyfollbywith) tourgeorseektopersuadebyreasoning 14. (transitive;oftenfollbyout) toworkoutorresolve(aproblem)byreasoning ▶ USAGETheexpressionthereasonisbecause…shouldbeavoided.Insteadoneshouldsayeitherthisisbecause…orthereasonisthat…CollinsEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Derivedformsreasoner(ˈreasoner)noun WordoriginC13:fromOldFrenchreisun,fromLatinratiōreckoning,fromrērītothink WordFrequency reasoninAmericanEnglish (ˈrizən ) noun1.  anexplanationorjustificationofanact,idea,etc. 2.  acauseormotive 3.  theabilitytothink,formjudgments,drawconclusions,etc. 4.  soundthoughtorjudgment;goodsense 5.  normalmentalpowers;asoundmind;sanity verbintransitive6.  tothinkcoherentlyandlogically;drawinferencesorconclusionsfromfactsknown orassumed 7.  toargueortalkinalogicalway verbtransitive8.  tothinklogicallyabout;thinkoutsystematically;analyze 9.  toargue,conclude,orinfernowusuallywithaclauseintroducedbythatastheobject 10.  tosupport,justify,etc.withreasons 11.  topersuadeorbringbyreasoning(intooroutof) SIMILARWORDS: cause,think Idioms: byreasonof inreason outofallreason standtoreason withreason Webster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,4thEdition.Copyright©2010by HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.Allrightsreserved. WordoriginMEreisun