harelip

American  

[hair-lip] / ˈhɛərˌlɪp /

noun

1. Usually Offensive. cleft lip.

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harelip British  

/ ˈhɛəˌlɪp /

noun

1. a congenital cleft or fissure in the midline of the upper lip, resembling the cleft upper lip of a hare, often occurring with cleft palate Preferred form cleft lip

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Sensitive Note

The term harelip is usually perceived as insulting because it compares the deformity in humans to the normal cleft lip of a hare. The accepted term for this medical condition is cleft lip.

Other Word Forms

• harelipped
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of harelip

First recorded in 1560–70; hare + lip

Example Sentences

Double Harelip combined with fissures of the hard palate, and projection of a central bone.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Bell, Joseph

Double Harelip, without bony deformity, and where the intervening portion of the skin is vertical, does not project, and can be made useful for the new lip.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Bell, Joseph

While the queen and her party had encountered the men-at-arms, Harelip with another company had gone off to search the house.

From The Princess and the Goblin by MacDonald, George