because of

preposition

: by reason of : on account of

Examples of because of in a Sentence

I was late for work because of the snowstorm, which made driving a nightmare.
Recent Examples on the Web Obama won his first term in 2008 in part because of a massive turnout of Black voters in Southern states like North Carolina — and a fully functioning VRA that ensured their access to the polls. John Blake, CNN, 26 Mar. 2024 Droves of visitors will make their way down the spine of the path of totality in Texas because of the state’s more favorable weather conditions. Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Mar. 2024 Not every port can accept every ship, because of size constraints. Camila Domonoske, NPR, 26 Mar. 2024 As a result, even if bad customers slipped through the application process, their banks could catch them on the back end because of their conspicuous consumption. Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2024 Benigno rides a stand-up bike because of his back surgery 12 years ago. Cathy Free, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024 Farmers are a particularly influential voting bloc because of their numbers. Rishi Lekhi and Ashok Sharma, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 At the time, energy prices were in a deep slump because of Covid-19 lockdowns, prompting some speculation that oil demand had already peaked. Laura Hurst, Fortune Europe, 14 Mar. 2024 But ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, may never be allowed to be sold to any company outside of China because of measures the government began putting into place in 2020. Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'because of.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of because of was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near because of

Cite this Entry

“Because of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/because%20of. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

because of

preposition
: by reason of

More from Merriam-Webster on because of

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