Definition of "boilerplate" []

• A steel plate used in making the shells of steam boilers. (noun)
• Journalistic material, such as syndicated features, available in plate or mat form. (noun)
• Inconsequential, formulaic, or stereotypical language: The new provisions of the lease renewal were merely boilerplate. (noun)

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.

• "Your dilation on the legal boilerplate is completely ridiculous."
• "Overly broad legal boilerplate is an issue that affects so many places in our world where we deal with big companies that write contracts that govern our interaction."
• "One of the open secrets of contract law is the fact that the contracting parties are not interested in reading the fine print-the "boilerplate" - that fills purchase orders, acknowledgments and other documents that are supposed to be the official record of the contract."