give pause for thoughtgive (someone) pause (for thought)
formal if something gives you pause, it is surprising or worrying and it makes you think more carefully about something.
It was a tragedy which gave us all pause for thought.
give (one) pause for thought
To cause one to take a moment to consider something. 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 for thought.
give (somebody) pause for ˈthought
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give (somebody) ˈpause
(formal) make somebody think seriously about something or hesitate before doing something: His remarks on the conditions in our prisons gave me pause for thought. Until that moment I’d never realized things were so bad.