clause

UK: /ˈklɔːz/ US: /klɔz/ ,(klôz)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

clause /klɔz/   n. [countable]

1. Grammar (in grammar) a group of words containing a subject and predicate and forming either a part of a sentence or a whole simple sentence:
   The clause John went home could stand on its own in its own sentence, or it could be a clause as part of a longer sentence: John went home because Mary walked in.
2. a separate and particular section or provision in a contract or other legal document:
   Which clause in the agreement refers to payments?

claus•al, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

clause  (klôz), n. 

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.

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

claus′al, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

clause / klɔːz/ noun

1. 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

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French, from Medieval Latin clausa a closing (of a rhetorical period), back formation from Latin clausula, from claudere to close

ˈclausal adjective