clause

[klawz]

noun

1. Grammar.,  a syntactic construction containing a subject and predicate and forming part of a sentence or constituting a whole simple sentence.

2. a distinct article or provision in a contract, treaty, will, or other formal or legal written document.

clause

/ klɔːz /

noun

1. grammar a group of words, consisting of a subject and a predicate including a finite verb, that does not necessarily constitute a sentence See also main clause subordinate clause coordinate clause

2. a section of a legal document such as a contract, will, or draft statute

clause

1. A group of words in a sentence that contains a subject and predicate. (See dependent clause and independent clause.)

Other Word Forms

• clausal adjective
• subclausal adjective
• subclause noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of clause¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English claus(e), from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin clausa, back formation from Latin clausula clausula

Word History and Origins

Origin of clause¹

C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin clausa a closing (of a rhetorical period), back formation from Latin clausula, from claudere to close

Example Sentences

Only once did this document refer to “citizens,” and that one clause failed to define the term.

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Tyler Coward, a government affairs attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which defends free speech, said he found that clause troubling.

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The parents whose behavior was so crass that Los Angeles school consultant Sandy Eiges added a clause in her contract stating that the use of profanity could terminate their working relationship.

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The company's contracts with the government run until 2029 but there is a break clause next year, which Kohler said the government should consider using as it is "not getting value for money".

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The insertion of a release clause, which would likely run beyond the £75m mark, could be beneficial to all parties if an agreement over a new deal is possible.

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Related Words

• article 
• paragraph 
• passage 
• provision 
• requirement 
• section 
• specification 
• stipulation