Definition of "nonrestrictive" [nonrestrictive]

• Not restrictive: nonrestrictive zoning. (adjective)
• Grammar Of, relating to, or being a subordinate clause or phrase that describes but does not identify or restrict the meaning of the noun, phrase, or clause it modifies, as the clause who live in a small condo in the sentence The Smiths, who live in a small condo, have 11 cats. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "You use which in nonrestrictive clauses, and if you eliminate a nonrestrictive clause, the meaning of the remaining part of the sentence will be the same as it was before."
• "At the same time, the instruction to put a comma before a nonrestrictive clause is not unique to Strunk & White but can be found in many writing texts."
• "If it were about any subject other than the “On Language” column, the press release would be unremarkable for failing to use a comma in its second sentence before the nonrestrictive relative clause “who was the founding and regular columnist until his death last fall.”"