clause (klɔːz) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | grammar main clause subordinate clause See also coordinate clause a group of words, consisting of a subject and a predicate including a finite verb, that does not necessarily constitute a sentence |
| 2. | a section of a legal document such as a contract, will, or draft statute |
| [C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin clausa a closing (of a rhetorical period), back formation from Latin clausula, from claudere to close] | |
| 'clausal | |
| —adj | |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a mark (‸) made in written or printed matter to show the place where something is to be inserted. |
A group of words in a sentence that contains a subject and predicate. (See dependent clause and independent clause.)