reason

n

1. basis, cause, ground, grounds, motive, warrant, occasion, Obs. skill; inducement, inspiration, impetus, incentive; mover, prime mover, agent; instigation, incitement, provocation; stimulation, actuation, fomentation.

2. justification, vindication, excuse, explanation, rationalization; reason why, why, underlying reason, why and wherefore, Inf. whyfor; pretense, pretext.

3. clarification, illumination, enlightenment, enucleation, elucidation; interpretation, exegesis, exposition, explication; illustration, allegorization, demonstration.

4. intellect, understanding, intelligence, mind, mentality; comprehension, Gk. Philos. nous, conception, cognition, recognition, apprehension, intuition; perception, percipience, insight, intellectuality; discernment, perspicacity, penetration, brainpower.

5. sense, good sense, common sense, brains, parts, Sl. smarts; reasonableness, rationality, logicalness, sensibleness, sensibility; wisdom, sagacity, shrewdness, astuteness, Sl. savvy, keenness; long-headedness, hard-headedness, acuity, quickness, sharpness.

6. premise, logic, thinking, reasoning, understanding; argumentation, argument, contention; analysis, synthesis, epistemology, dialectics; theory, thesis, hypothesis, account.

7. by reason of

on account of, because of, due to the fact that, due to, owing to, by virtue of, as a result of.

8. within reason

justifiable, reasonable, sensible, rational, in reason; proper, fitting, acceptable, allowable, warrantable, within bounds, within limits.

9. with reason

properly, fittingly, accordingly; justifiably, in all reason, just so, logically.

v

10. think, logicize, explain, explicate; philosophize, syllogize, analyze, intellectualize; ratiocinate, use reason, use one's head, put on one's thinking cap; cogitate, excogitate, cerebrate, muse; ponder, deliberate, contemplate, reflect, ruminate.

11. discuss, argue, debate, moot, talk over; confer with, exchange views, examine, analyze, review, pass in review; deliberate upon, sit down together, take up with, Sl. rap about, Sl. kick around; consider, treat, study, deal with, thresh out.

12. deduce, infer, conclude, surmise, generalize, draw conclusions, put two and two together; gather, glean, understand, figure, Sl. dope out, come to a conclusion; see, make out, estimate, reckon, find.

13. point out, bring to reason, prevail upon, show, show one the error of his ways; dissuade, talk out of, remonstrate, expostulate, plead with; convince, persuade, coax, urge, move; lead to believe, make one see the light, win over, bring round.