clauses Definition

a group of words containing a subject and predicate and functioning as a member of a complex or compound sentence

a separate section of a discourse or writing; specifically : a distinct article in a formal document

a clause in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits federal officeholders from accepting any present, emolument, office, or title from any foreign state or its rulers or representatives

a clause in Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the president from receiving any emolument from the federal government or from any state other than the compensation Section 1 provides for service as chief executive

a clause creating an exemption based on circumstances previously existing; especially : a provision in several southern state constitutions designed to enfranchise poor whites and disenfranchise blacks by waiving high voting requirements for descendants of men voting before 1867

a descriptive clause that is not essential to the definiteness of the meaning of the word it modifies (such as who is retired in "my father, who is retired, does volunteer work")

a clause formerly placed in a professional athlete's contract that reserved for the club the exclusive right automatically to renew the contract and that bound the athlete to the club until retirement or until the athlete was traded or released

a descriptive clause that is essential to the definiteness of the word it modifies (such as that you ordered in "the book that you ordered is out of print")

a plump, white-bearded, red-suited, and jolly old man in modern folklore who delivers presents to children at Christmastime —called also Santa