subordinate clause

noun Grammar.

a clause that modifies the principal clause or some part of it or that serves a noun function in the principal clause, as when she arrived in the sentence I was there when she arrived or that she has arrived in the sentence I doubt that she has arrived.

Compare main clause.

Also called de·pend·ent clause.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for subordinate clause

subordinate clause

noun

grammar a clause with an adjectival, adverbial, or nominal function, rather than one that functions as a separate sentence in its own rightCompare coordinate clause, main clause

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012