reason

1. noun

1)

the main reason for his decision

Syn:

cause, ground(s), basis, rationale; motive, motivation, purpose, point, aim, intention, objective, goal; explanation, justification, argument, defense, vindication, excuse, pretext

2)

postmodern voices railing against reason

Syn:

rationality, logic, logical thought, reasoning, cognition; formal ratiocination

3)

he was losing his reason

Syn:

sanity, mind, mental faculties; senses, wits; informal marbles

4)

he continues, against reason, to love her

Syn:

good sense, good judgment, common sense, wisdom, sagacity, reasonableness

2. verb

1)

a young child is unable to reason

Syn:

think rationally, think logically, use one's common sense, use one's head/brain; formal cogitate, ratiocinate

2)

Scott reasoned that Annabel might be ill

Syn:

calculate, come to the conclusion, conclude, reckon, think, judge, deduce, infer, surmise; informal figure

3)

she tried to reason with her husband

Syn:

bring around, coax, persuade, prevail on, convince, make someone see the light

•

- by reason of

- reason something out

- with reason

••

reason is because

This construction is loose because reason implies because and vice versa. As Robert W. Burchfield, the distinguished Oxford English Dictionary lexicographer, put it: "Though often defended by modern grammarians, the type ‘the reason … is because’ (instead of ‘the reason … is that’) aches with redundancy, and is still as inadmissible in Standard English as it was when H. W. Fowler objected to it in 1926." Points of View 116 (1992). After reason is, you’ll need a noun phrase, a predicate adjective, or a clause introduced by that. The best cure for reason is because is to replace because with that — e.g.: "Marcello (Jean Reno) has one frantic mission in life: to keep anyone from dying in the small Italian village where he lives. The reason is because [read reason is that] there are only three plots left in the local cemetery and his terminally ill wife, Roseanna (Mercedes Ruehl), wishes only that she be buried next to their daughter." (Star-Ledger [Newark]; June 27, 1997.)

Variations such as reason is due to are no better — e.g.: "It's a challenge for any athlete to come back after four years of inactivity. The challenge is even greater when the reason is due to injury [read the layoff is due to injury or injury is the cause]." (Tulsa Tribune & Tulsa World; May 4, 1997.) — BG