There are strong grounds for believing that what he says is true.
The latest crime statistics provide some grounds for optimism.
He was refused permission to stay on the grounds that he had entered the country illegally. (=for that reason)
They recommended joining the EU on purely economic grounds. (=only for economic reasons)
argument noun [countable] a reason or set of reasons that someone uses to try to persuade another person to agree with them:
There are strong environmental arguments for limiting car use.
One of the main arguments against the death penalty is that an innocent person could accidentally be executed.
I do not agree with the argument that experiments are necessary on live animals.
There is little evidence to support their argument.
He was the first person to put forward this argument. (=to suggest this set of reasons)
rationale noun [countable usually singular] a series of reasons that someone uses to explain why they need to do something in a particular way:
All organisations need a rationale for dividing up their work.
In the first part of the book I will attempt to provide a rationale for such an approach.
The document outlines the rationale behind the government's economic reforms.
justification noun [uncountable and countable] a reason why you think it is right to do something, especially something that seems wrong or unfair to other people:
The US government's main justification for the war was that they wanted to bring democracy to the country.
There is, he states, no justification for killing another human being under any circumstances.
basis noun [countable] the main ideas, reasons, arguments etc on which something is based:
There is no scientific basis for such beliefs.
Piaget provided a theoretical basis for studying children's mental behaviour.
Newton's work forms the basis of much of modern physics.
3. A reason that does not seem believable
pretext noun [countable] a false reason that someone gives in order to hide their real reason for doing something:
They used religion as a pretext for their activities.
People were sent to prison or labour camps on the flimsiest of pretexts. (=for reasons that seem very unlikely and difficult to believe)
Police went into the area under the pretext of looking for drug dealers. (=using this as a reason)
excuse noun [countable] a reason that you give to try to explain why you did something bad, especially one that is not true:
Poverty should not be seen as an excuse for crime.
The soldiers' excuse was that they were only obeying orders.
People are tired of listening to the same old feeble excuses. (=excuses that seem very weak and not believable)
Increasing
opposite Decreasing
To increase
To make something increase
An increase
When something does not increase, or stops increasing 1. To increase
increase verb [intransitive] to become larger in number, amount, price, or value:
Last year, the number of burglaries increased by 15 percent.
The percentage of households with a computer increased from 32.9% to 52%.
The world's population is increasing at a rate of 91 million people each year.
Land prices have increased dramatically during the last thirty years. (=by a surprisingly large amount)
The ratio of women to men in management positions has been increasing steadily. (=more women are becoming managers)
rise / go up verb [intransitive] phrasal verb to increase. Rise and go up are used especially about numbers, prices or temperatures. They can also be used about the level or standard of something:
Fuel prices rose by over 10 percent.
Last month unemployment went up from 1.6 million to just over 1.7 million.
Crime rates have risen sharply in inner city areas. (=they have increased by a large amount in a short time)
World demand for oil is rising steadily at around 2 percent a year.
Sea temperatures have been rising gradually over the past 30 years.
Living standards have gone up dramatically. (=by a surprisingly large amount)
STUDY NOTE: Grammar Rise is more formal than go up.
If you want to say that something 'has increased', you can say that it is up, for example: Profits are up by almost 50%.
grow verb [intransitive] to increase, especially gradually over a period of time. Grow is used about numbers or amounts, or about the total amount of business or trade:
The volume of traffic on our roads continues to grow.
The economy is growing by about 2.5% a year.
Since 1990, U.S. imports of foreign goods have grown at a rate of 7.7 percent per year.
double / triple /quadruple verb [intransitive] to become twice as much, three times as much, or four times as much:
Since 1950, the number of people dying from cancer has almost doubled.
During the last 15 years, earnings have tripled for men and doubled for women.
The production of maize quadrupled.
expand verb [intransitive] to become larger in size, or to include a wider range of activities:
After two years of no growth, the economy started to expand again in 2003.
The report estimates that up to 40,000 plants could die out if the population expands from 6 billion to 8 billion by 2020, as currently predicted.
soar verb [intransitive] to increase and reach a very high level. Soar is used about numbers and amounts, or about people's feelings and attitudes, and is especially used in journalism:
Interest rates soared to over 100 percent.
The rumours sent house prices soaring. (=made them increase to a very high level)
The president's popularity soared. (=he became extremely popular)
escalate verb [intransitive] to increase to a high level. Escalate is used about things that you do not want to increase such as costs, crimes, or violence:
Energy costs have escalated.
The violence began to escalate and the demonstrators started attacking the police. STUDY NOTE: Grammar
The -ing forms of many of these verbs can also be used as adjectives, for example: the increasing demand for cheap goods