clauses

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of clause.

   The lawyer flagged two clauses that contradicted each other.

   Relative clauses often begin with words like who, which, or that.

   Note

   One plural serves two quite different worlds. In grammar, clauses are the subject-and-verb units a sentence is built from, sorted into independent (superordinate) and dependent (subordinate) types. In law, they are the separate provisions of a contract or will. The same spelling also belongs to the verb meaning 'amends a document', so in the clerk clauses the bill it is a verb, not a list.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of clause.

   When the cargo shows damage, the master clauses the bill of lading to record it.

   If the count is in doubt, the carrier clauses the receipt rather than signing it clean.

   Note

   The verb is narrow and commercial. To clause something is to amend a bill of lading or a similar document, so its home is shipping and trade paperwork rather than grammar. It takes a direct object, as in the carrier clauses the bill. The -s marks a singular subject in the present tense, and it shares its spelling with the everyday plural.

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