probable cause

1. 1.

   (law) evidence sufficient to warrant an arrest or search and seizure

   “a magistrate determined that there was probable cause to search the house”

   Broaderevidence

   law

Questions about probable cause

What does probable cause mean?

probable cause means "(law) evidence sufficient to warrant an arrest or search and seizure".

Is probable cause a common word?

probable cause is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.