subordinate clause: Meaning and Definition of

subor'dinate clause'

Pronunciation: [key]
— Gram. Gram.
  1. a clause that modifies the principal clause or some part of it or that serves a noun function in the principal clause, as when she arrived in the sentence I was there when she arrived or that she has arrived in the sentence I doubt that she has arrived. Cf.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.