clause

American  

[klawz] / klɔz /

noun

clauses plural

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.

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clause British  

/ 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

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clause Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subclause
  noun
• clausal
  adjective
• subclausal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clauses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clause

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

Explanation

A clause is a group of words with a subject and verb. That kind of clause is handy when talking about grammar. Another kind of clause is a provision or stipulation in a legal contract. Clause is a noun that comes from the old French clause, which, if we trace it way back, comes from the Latin clausula, “the end, a closing termination.” Around 1300, the “ending” implication of the word began to fade and was replaced by “article or section of a text.” In the grammatical sense, every sentence must have at least one independent clause. And in the legal sense, documents like prenuptial agreements or job contract often contain clauses.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clause clauses

Diomande has a £68.2m release clause but Forest are keen to land the Ivory Coast international for a lower fee.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

The excessive fines clause is the neglected middle child of the Eighth Amendment, wedged between excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment, and almost never litigated.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

Every state court in America was told the clause applies to them, and not one was told how to apply it.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

They have a buyback clause with Jarell Quansah, who left for Bayer Leverkusen for £35m last July, but there are no current plans for Quansah to return.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Sobukwe’s sentence had ended in 1963, but under what became known as the Sobukwe clause of the General Law Amendment Act of 1963, the minister of justice could hold political prisoners indefinitely without charge.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

The Gunners also have Como's Jacobo Ramon on a list of defenders they would like to bring in, but it is understood clauses in the Spaniard's contract make a deal difficult.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

"You can drive a truck through those clauses," an Arab oil executive working in the region said.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

In the lawsuit, Wynn-Williams alleges that after she was fired, she signed a severance agreement, which included a non-disparagement agreement and mandatory arbitration clauses, under duress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Even new artists are receiving agreements that include “AI rights clauses as a standard condition of signing.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

With these conditionals, anything goes: you can use pretty much any tense in the if and then clauses, depending only on when the relevant events take place or are discovered.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

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