give someone 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.
(redirected from give someone 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.