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Definition Clause: "Means and Includes"

Canons of Statutory Interpretation

Definition

An exhaustive legislative formulation used to define a term by providing both an exclusive core meaning and extending that meaning to specific specified additions, leaving no room for further judicial expansion.

Example

In Black Diamond Beverages v. Commercial Tax Officer, the Supreme Court held that the phrase "means and includes" is intended to make the definition completely exhaustive of everything intended to be covered by the statutory expression.