Clause \Clause\, n. [Obs.]
   See {Letters clause} or {Letters close}, under {Letter}.
   
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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.
      
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            The usual attestation clause to a will. --Bouvier.
      
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   2. (Gram.) A subordinate portion or a subdivision of a
      sentence containing a subject and its predicate.
      
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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}]

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

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.