give pause

Idioms and Phrases

Cause one to hesitate, as in The high monthly installment payments gave me pause , or, as Shakespeare put it in Hamlet (3:1): “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come ... Must give us pause.” [c. 1600]

Example Sentences

Key findings in these focus groups about what drives voters should give pause to strategists and ad-makers in both parties.

From The Daily Beast

That ought to give pause to the Amalgamated Sorehead Society.

From Project Gutenberg

But it was only the rude and savage in an unfamiliar literature that could give pause in the age of Pope.

From Project Gutenberg

It would67 have been quite sufficient to give pause to any approaching wagon or machine.

From Project Gutenberg

In quickly conceived strategy he began to give pause in his attack, nay, he retreated a step or two.

From Project Gutenberg

Something sufficiently interesting, at any rate, to give pause even to a critic in a hurry.

From Project Gutenberg