give pause

Related to give pause: take exception, give pause for thought

give (one) pause

To cause one to take a moment to consider something; to cause one to hesitate. I'd love to buy a house, but the fact that I'd have to completely deplete my savings account to do it gives me pause. That statistic should give everyone pause.
See also: give, pause
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

give someone pause (for thought)

Fig. to cause someone to stop and think. When I see a golden sunrise, it gives me pause for thought. Witnessing an accident is likely to give all of us pause.
See also: give, pause
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

give pause

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]
See also: give, pause
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • give (one) pause
  • pause
  • go to (one's) head
  • go to head
  • go to one's head
  • go to your head
  • make (one) sweat
  • give (one) a rough ride
  • have/give somebody a rough/an easy ride
  • have no cause to (do something)
References in periodicals archive
The saga of "the lost convoy," which meandered through ambush after ambush, taking heavy casualties, before returning to the base, should give pause to those who believe that perfect "situational awareness" will sweep away the fog of war.
BLACK HAWK DOWN
Yet momentary reflection should give pause. Judaism and Islam have many features in common, from the prominence of the divine law to the refusal to accord the prophet divine status.
Islam and Democracy
The Ehrlichs conclude with questions to give pause to the brownlashers.
Environmentalists lash back at "brownlashers": warning sounded on the high cost of pseudo-science
This fact, as much as anything else, should give pause to the North American foundry industry, which has long suffered at the hands of suppliers from different industries that have simply out-marketed metalcasting and its traditional products.
Watching China's ascent
Also in closing, this book can provide insightful and objective observations to those of us who do work in the field of alcohol and drug treatment, and give pause for reflection on our own interactions with clients.
Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk: An Ethnography of a Drug Abuse Treatment Facility
What Brook and his staff endured over 20 years should give pause to anyone who dreams of one day owning his or her own weekly and settling down to a blissful life as a small town newspaper editor.
The Hard Way, the Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper Editor
While these latest data should give pause to those who project gains of 15 percent or more in housing starts for 1993 (not us), not all the news is bad.
Starts decline, enthusiasm wanes
But simply the physical challenges, not to mention the financial and manpower needs, confronting the new territory are enough to give pause to the most dedicated northsman.
A good deed for the Inuit
It is hoped that the penalty for infractions-$100 to $500-is stiff enough to give pause to violators.
Paradise burning: how to live with wildfire
NEWS coming in from Gilgit about the potential formation of another glacial lake in Ghizer district should give pause to the big plans being made in nearby areas.
Melting glaciers
Nevertheless, plans to knock down an entire block of buildings in the centre of Huddersfield does give pause for thought.
A knock down price; COMMENT The policy of honesty. The might of right. The expediency of principle
It causes us to give pause and question the stability of the Twitter infrastructure, usage of my personal data and social network, and what important messages I may have missed from my trusted Twitter network," The Telegraph quoted Labour MP and fanatic tweeter, Tom Watso, as saying.
Twitter hit by 'unfollowing' bug
But the sheer scope of conditions of despair and political dysfunction in Muslim countries should give pause to any political leader or official who talks about the problems of the Islamic world.
Dysfunction in Muslim lands
While it can be difficult to quantify the scale of the problem, the data unveiled today should give pause for thought.
Give mental health the attention it deserves
There are, however, some parts of Bashir's cease-fire declaration that should give pause for thought, because they smack of his administration's past reluctance to confront tough realities.
Darfur: Sudan's unilateral move