caution

Pluralcautions (some meanings)

Formscautions, cautioning, cautioned

1. 1
   noununcountable

   Prudence in the face of danger, actual or expected; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.

   Hikers should exercise caution near the cliff edge after heavy rain.

   The crew approached the damaged power line with extreme caution.

   Similarcare, prudence, wariness, vigilance

   Oppositerecklessness, carelessness, rashness

   Note

   Latin cavēre, "be on one's guard," sits at the root, and this sense keeps that alertness. It is mostly uncountable, something people exercise, take or have, and it scales easily with intensifiers: great caution, extreme caution, utmost caution. The strongest of these usually comes with is required, a phrasing suited to warnings and advice where the danger is near and specific.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Careful attention to the probable consequences of an action, exercised so that failure or harm can be avoided.

   The board's caution about expanding too quickly kept the company solvent through the downturn.

   He weighed the offer with caution, asking what hidden costs it might carry.

   Similarprudence, circumspection, care, deliberation

   Oppositerashness, recklessness

   Note

   Here the wariness points forward, at consequences rather than at a hazard in front of you. That is why it pairs naturally with against and about: a guideline expresses caution against excessive imaging, and a board voices caution about growing too fast. Unlike wariness in the face of danger, it can be expressed as a stated reservation, not only felt.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To warn or alert someone, advising them that care or vigilance is warranted.

   Forecasters caution residents to avoid travel during the ice storm.

   The label cautions users against operating heavy machinery after taking the medication.

   Similarwarn, advise, alert, counsel

   Note

   The verb takes the person being warned as its object and then names the danger. Life magazine's May 1965 issue cautioned readers about riders who "take over the paths made for peaceful strollers". Three patterns are common: caution someone about a risk, caution them against an action, or caution them to do something.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A formal warning, typically issued by police, given as an alternative to prosecution in minor cases.

   Officers issued the teenager a caution rather than pursuing charges.

   First-time offenders caught shoplifting may receive a caution and be sent on their way.

   Similarwarning

   Note

   In law the word stops naming a state of mind and names an outcome. A caution is issued, given or received, and it is countable. It is the route taken instead of prosecution for a minor offense, and it is recorded officially but is not a conviction. Do not confuse it with the everyday verb "warn": being cautioned informally is not the same as receiving a caution.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   In soccer, an official yellow card shown by the referee to a player as a formal warning for misconduct.

   The midfielder picked up a caution for a late tackle in the first half.

   Two cautions in the same match result in a sending-off.

   Similarbooking

   Note

   Soccer uses the word as the formal name for the referee's yellow card. Match reports say a player picks up or receives a caution for a late tackle or similar misconduct. Cautions are counted, and two in the same match mean a sending-off. That is why players and commentators keep track of the plural.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   In soccer, to show a player a yellow card as a formal disciplinary warning.

   The official cautioned both captains after the scuffle near the bench.

   Referees may caution a player for removing their shirt during a goal celebration.

   Similarbook

   Note

   The verb behind the yellow card: a referee cautions a player, and reports often put it in the passive, as in he was cautioned for a late challenge. The reason follows with for. That sets it apart from the general sense of warning, since a referee never cautions a player about anything.

7. 7
   noununcountable

   Security or a guaranty given to ensure that an obligation will be fulfilled, such as bail.

   The court required the executor to find caution before administering the estate.

   He was released after his neighbor lodged caution for his appearance at trial.

   Similarsecurity, surety, bail, bond

   Note

   The oldest meaning in the family: Middle English caucioun, recorded since 1297, meant bail, guarantee or pledge, from Old French caution, "security, surety." The Earl of Clarendon writes of Parliament giving the king "sufficient caution that the war should be vigorously prosecuted." In that use caution is something given, and a that-clause names what is being guaranteed.

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