(pronounced preh-VIH-zuhn)

We’re not referring to the Cheetos and Mountain Dew you stockpiled for your summer camping trip. We’re talking about a different kind of provision, also known as a proviso, which is a clause (as in a contract) that introduces a condition — i.e., a conditional stipulation.

Example: Judy kept searching for a provision in their letter of agreement that would easily and swiftly end her working relationship with this screw-up of a builder, but apparently she had not been as conscientious as usual when putting her name on the dotted line, and now she was stuck in the middle of a disastrous project.