clauses

Noun

clause (plural clauses)

1. A group of words that contains a subject and a verb; it may be part of a sentence or may constitute the whole sentence, depending on the syntax in each instance.
   • Near-synonyms: sentential, sentence

   Synonyms:

   sentential, sentence

2. A verb, its necessary grammatical arguments, and any adjuncts affecting them.
3. A verb along with its subject and their modifiers. If a clause provides a complete thought on its own, then it is an independent (superordinate) clause; otherwise, it is dependent (subordinate). (Independent clauses can be sentences; they can also be part of a sentence. Dependent clauses can only be part of a sentence.)
   • However, Coordination facts seem to undermine this hasty conclusion: thus, consider the following:
     (43) [Your sister could go to College], but [would she get a degree?]
     The second (italicised) conjunct is a Clause containing an inverted Auxiliary, would. Given our earlier assumptions that inverted...1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 300
4. A distinct part of a contract, a will or another legal document.
   • Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.1951 April, “Notes and News: North Fife Line, Scotland”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281
5. A constituent (component) of a statement or query.

See all 7 meanings of clause