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. I think the mayoral candidate's distressing comments gave everyone in the party pause.

give pause to (one)

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 pause to me. That statistic should give pause to everybody. I think the mayoral candidate's distressing comments gave pause to everyone in the party.

give pause to, to

To stop temporarily; to hesitate; to hold back in order to reflect. This term, too, comes from Shakespeare, from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy on death (3.1), “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come . . . must give us pause.” Eric Partridge said it has been a cliché since the mid-nineteenth century.