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

The saga kicked off in April 2025 when Jeremy Ford claimed his father was incapacitated, triggering a clause that would allow him to buy out his father’s interest in the family entities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Forest made a bid of £40m plus a potential sell-on clause for the England Under-19 international, who is regarded as one of the brightest prospects to emerge from Finch Farm in recent years.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

The owners’ underlying pitch then was that the reserve clause was crucial for the very survival of the game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

"They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

When an item is modified by a relative clause, and its role inside the clause is the object of the verb, the reader is faced with a long span between the filler and the gap.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

West’s story, however, has gained momentum not because of the messiness surrounding surrogacy agreements and termination clauses.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Additionally, many of these contracts contain conditional requirements or cancellation clauses in case build-outs stall.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

But Marquez said an evacuation order would open up other resources for more residents, including home insurance clauses for homeowners that provides assistance.

From Los Angeles Times ● 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

Recognizing that the architects’ delays had put everything behind schedule, he inserted into the construction contracts clauses that made him a “czar,” as the Chicago Tribune put it.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

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