caution

nounverbcommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n//
Australia//ˈkoːʃ(ə)n//
Scotland//ˈkɔʃ(ə)n//
//ˈkɔʃ(ə)n//
//ˈkɑʃ(ə)n//

Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.

noun

1
Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.
take caution
have caution
exercise great caution
utmost caution is required when travelling in this dangerous neighbourhood
2
A careful attention to the probable effects of an act, in order that failure or harm may be avoided.
The guideline expressed caution against excessive radiographic imaging.
3
Security; guaranty; bail.
The Parliament would yet give his majesty sufficient caution that the war should be vigorously prosecuted.
4
datedOne who draws attention or causes astonishment by their behaviour.
Oh, that boy, he's a caution! He does make me laugh.
‘You are a caution,’ she said, when she came out. ‘I don't understand you.’
5
A formal warning given as an alternative to prosecution in minor cases.
6
A yellow card.

Etymology

Recorded since 1297 as Middle English caucioun (“bail, guarantee, pledge”), from Old French caution (“security, surety”), itself from Latin cautiō, from cautus, past participle of caveō, cavēre (“be on one's guard”).

verb

1
To warn; to alert, advise that caution is warranted.
"Careful, Uwe," cautions my Venezuelan explorer friend, José Miguel Pérez, with a grim smile. "You're too big for us to carry back down."
In its May 1965 issue, Life magazine condemned skateboards as a “menace to limb and even to life,” and cautioned readers about riders who “take over the paths made for peaceful strollers.”
2
To read someone their formal legal rights as part of a lawful arrest.
They're under arrest. Caution them, will you?
3
To give a yellow card.

Forms

plural: cautions
past tense: cautioned
past participle: cautioned
present participle: cautioning
third person singular: cautions

Caucasian · Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its culture,…caught · Of the method of being out in which the striker hits the ball…cause · The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which…

caution · Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.

cautious · Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative cavalier · Lacking the proper care or concern for something important,…Cavalier · A small city, the county seat of Pembina County, North…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.