Occasional cause

(Metaph.)

some circumstance preceding an effect which, without being the real cause, becomes the occasion of the action of the efficient cause; thus, the act of touching gunpowder with fire is the occasional, but not the efficient, cause of an explosion.

See also: Occasional

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.

References in periodicals archive ?

Foetal ascites is seen as an occasional cause of dystocia in many species but occurs most often in cows (Roberts, 1971).

Management of dystocia due to fetal ascites in a buffalo

This double-CD compilation, charting the band's 40-year career, can't escape the fact that it's all downhill from album opener A Whiter Shade Of Pale, despite occasional cause for optimism.

play: PROCOL HARUM The Secrets Of The Hive (Salvo)

enterocolitica has been an uncommonly reported pathogen, although in recent years it has emerged as an occasional cause of sporadic illness and foodborne disease outbreaks.

From pig to pacifier: chitterling-associated yersiniosis outbreak among black infants. (Dispatches)

Not surprisingly, a common injury and occasional cause of death was strangulated hernia.

The portage

An occasional cause of morning sore throat is regurgitation of stomach acids up into the back of the throat where they are extremely irritating.

Sore throats: causes & cures

Fetal ascites is seen as an occasional cause of dystocia in any species but most common in cow.

Management of dystocia due to fetal ascites in a buffalo

Moreover, Malebranche also maintains that finite agents may control their attention, which he takes to be the occasional cause of knowledge, and this claim, too, seems to be incompatible with occasionalism.