reason

Plural: reasons

Noun

• a rational motive for a belief or action
  • "the reason that war was declared"
• an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon
  • "the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly"
• the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination
  • "we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil"
• the state of having good sense and sound judgment
  • "he had to rely less on reason than on rousing their emotions"
• a justification for something existing or happening
  • "they had good reason to rejoice"
• a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion
  • "there is reason to believe he is lying"
• A cause:
• That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.
• A cause:
• A motive for an action or a determination.
• A cause:
• An excuse: a thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation.
• A cause:
• A premise placed after its conclusion.
• Rational thinking (or the capacity for it); the cognitive faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.
• Something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.
• Ratio; proportion.
• A wall plate.

Verb

Verb Forms: reasoned, reasoning, reasons

• To think, understand, and form judgments logically.
• decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion
  • "We reasoned that it was cheaper to rent than to buy a house"
• present reasons and arguments
• think logically
  • "The children must learn to reason"
• To deduce or come to a conclusion by being rational.
• To perform a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to argue.
• To converse; to compare opinions.
• To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
• To support with reasons, as a request.
• To persuade by reasoning or argument.
• To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.
• To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.

Examples

• I reasoned the matter with my friend.
• I try to REASON through all possible plays before committing to a word in Words With Friends.
• If you don't give me a reason to go with you, I won't.
• Mankind should develop reason above all other virtues.
• The reason I robbed the bank was that I needed the money.
• The reason this tree fell is that it had rotted.
• to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan

Synonyms

argue, cause, conclude, ground, grounds, intellect, rationality, reason out, reasonableness, understanding, excuse, motive, occasion, rationale, that which causes

Anagrams of reason