<B>caulis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-les.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the stalk or stem of a plant, especially an herbaceous plant. </DL>
<A NAME="caulk">
<B>caulk, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to fill up (a seam, crack, or joint) so that it will not leak; make watertight. Shipbuilders caulk wooden boats with oakum and tar. Plumbers caulk joints in pipe with lead, string, or a caulking compound. Also, <B>calk.</B> noun <B>caulker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="caulkage">
<B>caulkage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nautical.) oakum, cotton fiber, or other material used in caulking the seams of a vessel's planking. </DL>
<A NAME="caulkingiron">
<B>caulking iron,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a broad-bladed, dull-edged chisel used in driving waterproofing material into seams, cracks, or joints, such as the seams of a wooden vessel. </DL>
<A NAME="caulocarpous">
<B>caulocarpous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> bearing fruit repeatedly upon the same stem. </DL>
<A NAME="caulome">
<B>caulome, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the axis or stem of a plant. <DD><B> 2. </B>a structure morphologically corresponding to it. </DL>
<B>causability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the capability of being caused. </DL>
<A NAME="causacausans">
<B>causa causans,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) original cause; primary cause. <BR> <I>Ex. The apron per se is the causa causans of her ladyship's displeasure (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="causal">
<B>causal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of a cause; acting as a cause. <BR> <I>Ex. one supreme causal God (Phillips Brooks).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with cause and effect. <BR> <I>Ex. Hume ... owes his fame to one keen observation ...; that the term cause and effect was loosely ... applied to what we know only as consecutive, not at all as causal (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>showing a cause or reason. "Because" is a causal conjunction. <DD><I>noun </I> a word or form that shows cause or reason. </DL>
<A NAME="causalgia">
<B>causalgia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an intense, burning pain, usually neuralgic. </DL>
<A NAME="causality">
<B>causality, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the relation of cause and effect; the principle that nothing can happen or exist without a cause. <BR> <I>Ex. A belief in causality ... characterizes all valuable minds (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>causal quality or agency. <BR> <I>Ex. Nature has no independent activity, no causality of its own (Leo H. Grindon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="causally">
<B>causally, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a causal manner; by way of cause and effect. <BR> <I>Ex. The world of experience must be for intelligence a system of things causally connected (Robert Adamson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="causasinequanon">
<B>causa sine qua non,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) <DD><B> 1. </B>an indispensable cause. <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) cause without which not. </DL>
<A NAME="causation">
<B>causation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a causing or being caused. <BR> <I>Ex. It sometimes happens that we are punished for our faults by incidents, in the causation of which these faults had no share (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>whatever produces an effect; a cause or causes. <BR> <I>Ex. A serious work, to say nothing of a tragic one, cannot hope to achieve truly high excellence short of an investigation into the whole gamut of causation of which society is a manifest and crucial part (Arthur Miller).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the relation of cause and effect; the principle that nothing can happen or exist without a cause; causality. <BR> <I>Ex. historical causation is so endlessly complex (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="causationism">
<B>causationism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the theory or principle or causation. noun <B>causationist.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="causative">
<B>causative, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>being a cause; productive (of an effect). <BR> <I>Ex. That which is essentially causative of all being must be causative of its own (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).</I> (SYN) generative. <DD><B> 2. </B>expressing causation. (Example:) In <I>enrich, en-</I> is a causative prefix. <DD><I>noun </I> a word or form expressing causation. adv. <B>causatively.</B> noun <B>causativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="causativity">
<B>causativity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the fact of being causative; causative quality. </DL>
<A NAME="cause">
<B>cause, </B>noun, verb, <B>caused,</B> <B>causing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person, thing, or event that makes something happen. <BR> <I>Ex. The flood was the cause of much damage.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a reason or occasion for action; ground; motive. <BR> <I>Ex. The hero's return was a cause for celebration.</I> (SYN) incentive, inducement. <DD><B> 3. </B>good reason; reason enough. <BR> <I>Ex. You have no cause to complain. He was angry without cause.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a subject or movement in which many people are interested and to which they give their support. <BR> <I>Ex. World peace is the cause she likes to work for.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a matter for a law court to decide; lawsuit. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) anything that requires a decision; a matter in dispute. <BR> <I>Ex. The cause was decided by vote.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make happen; make do; bring about. <BR> <I>Ex. The fire caused much damage. A loud noise caused me to jump.</I> (SYN) prompt, induce, effect. <BR><I>expr. <B>make common cause with,</B> </I>to join efforts with; side with; help and support. <BR> <I>Ex. before they made common cause with either French or English (H. H. Wilson).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>show cause,</B> </I>to present a reason or reasons why an order, judgment, or conviction should not be executed or confirmed. <BR> <I>Ex. [The judge] directed the strikers to show cause why they should not be enjoined from "illegal picketing" of the plant (Wall Street Journal).</I> adj. <B>causable.</B> noun <B>causer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="causecelebre">
<B>cause celebre, </B>pl. <B>causes celebres,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a famous or notorious case, especially in law. <BR> <I>Ex. The trial of the astronomer Galileo for heresy in 1633 has long been a "cause celebre" (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a situation or episode attracting intense and widespread interest. <DD><B> 3. </B>(literally) a celebrated cause. </DL>
<A NAME="causeless">
<B>causeless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>without any known cause; happening by chance. <DD><B> 2. </B>without good reason; not having reason enough. <BR> <I>Ex. causeless fear of the dark.</I> adv. <B>causelessly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="causerie">
<B>causerie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an informal talk or discussion; chat. <BR> <I>Ex. His attractive and most vivacious wife, whose conversational impulses have a wonderful way of advancing, instead of interrupting, a causerie (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a short, informal written article, as in a periodical. </DL>
<A NAME="causeuse">
<B>causeuse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a small sofa for two persons. </DL>
<A NAME="causeway">
<B>causeway, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a raised road or path, usually built across wet ground or shallow water. <BR> <I>Ex. A narrow causeway ran across the bog. The three-lane causeway linking New Orleans with the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain opens to traffic this week (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a main road; highway. <BR> <I>Ex. The car followed the causeway over the hills.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to provide with a causeway. <DD><B> 2. </B>to pave with cobbles or pebbles. <BR> <I>Ex. streets flagged instead of being causewayed (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="causey">
<B>causey, </B>noun, pl. <B>-seys,</B> verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>=causeway.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to pave with small stones. </DL>
<A NAME="causidical">
<B>causidical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with the pleader or the pleading of legal causes. </DL>
<A NAME="caustic">
<B>caustic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that burns or destroys flesh; corrosive. Lye is caustic soda or caustic potash. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) very critical or sarcastic; stinging; biting. <BR> <I>Ex. The speaker gave a caustic answer to the man who interrupted with a silly question. The coach's caustic remarks made the football players angry.</I> (SYN) satirical, mordant, scathing. <DD><B> 3. </B>in optics: <DD><B> a. </B>of or denoting a curved surface to which are tangent all the rays of light proceeding from a fixed point and reflected or refracted by a curved surface. A caustic surface by reflection is called a <I>catacaustic</I> surface; that by refraction a <I>diacaustic</I> surface. <DD><B> b. </B>of or denoting the curve formed by a plane section of such a surface. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a substance that burns or destroys flesh; corrosive substance. <BR> <I>Ex. My warts were burned away by the caustic put on them.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(in optics) a caustic curve or surface. adv. <B>caustically.</B> </DL>
<B>caustic soda,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a brittle, solid, white substance used in medicine, manufacturing, and for cleaning out drains; sodium hydroxide. <BR> <I>Ex. Caustic soda is an important raw material in the refinement of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is extracted (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<B>cautelous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><B> 1. </B>cautious or wary. <BR> <I>Ex. I have been cautelous in quoting mine authorities (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>crafty. </DL>
<A NAME="cauter">
<B>cauter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a surgical instrument for burning or cauterizing. </DL>
<A NAME="cauterant">
<B>cauterant, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a caustic or cauterizing substance. <DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with cautery; that cauterizes; caustic. </DL>
