Clause

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Clause \Clause\, n. [Obs.]
     See {Letters clause} or {Letters close}, under {Letter}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Clause \Clause\, n. [F. clause, LL. clausa, equiv. to L.
     clausula clause, prop., close of ? rhetorical period, close,
     fr. claudere to shut, to end. See {Close}.]
     1. A separate portion of a written paper, paragraph, or
        sentence; an article, stipulation, or proviso, in a legal
        document.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The usual attestation clause to a will. --Bouvier.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Gram.) A subordinate portion or a subdivision of a
        sentence containing a subject and its predicate.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  clause
       n 1: (grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate
            but not constituting a complete sentence
       2: a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or
          contract or will) [syn: {article}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  90 Moby Thesaurus words for "clause":
     adjectival phrase, article, back matter, bill, book,
     boundary condition, calendar, catch, chapter, column,
     companion bills amendment, condition, construction, donnee,
     dragnet clause, enacting clause, escalator clause, escape clause,
     escape hatch, expression, fascicle, fine print, folio,
     front matter, gathering, given, grounds, headed group,
     hold-up bill, idiom, idiotism, installment, joker, kicker,
     limiting condition, livraison, locution, manner of speaking,
     motion, noun phrase, number, obligation, omnibus bill, page,
     paragraph, parameter, part, passage, peculiar expression, period,
     phrasal idiom, phrase, prerequisite, privileged question,
     provision, provisions, proviso, question, requisite, rider,
     saving clause, section, sentence, serial, set phrase, sheet,
     signature, sine qua non, small print, specification,
     standard phrase, stipulation, string, syntactic structure, term,
     terms, text, turn of expression, turn of phrase, ultimatum, usage,
     utterance, verb complex, verb phrase, verbalism, verse, volume,
     way of speaking, whereas, word-group
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CLAUSE, contracts. A particular disposition which makes part of a treaty; of 
  an act of the legislature; of a deed, written agreement, or other written 
  contract or will. When a clause is obscurely written, it ought to be 
  construed in such a way as to agree with what precedes and what follows, if 
  possible. Vide Dig. 50, 17, 77; Construction; Interpretation.