- 1 (grammar) a group of words that includes a subject and a verb, and forms a sentence or part of a sentence In the sentence ‘They often go to Italy because they love the food’, ‘They often go to Italy’ is the main clause and ‘because they love the food’ is a subordinate clause. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivemain, subordinate, conditional, … prepositionin a/the clause See full entry
- 2an item in a legal document that says that a particular thing must or must not be done There is a clause in the contract forbidding tenants to sublet. Wordfinderdocumentagreement, binding, certificate, clause, deed, document, draft, draw up, subsection, witness Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveconfidentiality, indemnity, penalty, … verb + clausecontain, have, add, … prepositionin a/the clause, under a/the clause, clause on, … See full entry See related entries: Legal documents Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French clause, based on Latin claus- ‘shut, closed’, from the verb claudere.Extra examples The contract contains a confidentiality clause. The penalty clause specifies that late delivery will be fined. There is some ambiguity in this clause. Under Clause 5.8, the company is responsible for the health of its employees. We added an opt-out clause to the agreement. a clause on pollution a restrictive relative clause Clause 2.7.3 should be studied carefully. Many of the clauses will have to be amended.
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