cleft palate


noun
  1. a congenital defect of the palate in which a longitudinal fissure exists in the roof of the mouth, often associated with a cleft lip.

Origin of cleft palate

1
First recorded in 1840–50

Words Nearby cleft palate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cleft palate in a sentence

  • Common illustrations of such deforming developmental accidents are harelip, cleft palate, and club foot.

    The Mother and Her Child | William S. Sadler
  • Should this failure to unite be in the deeper structures of the head, then cleft palate is the result.

    The Mother and Her Child | William S. Sadler
  • The operation for cleft palate is usually successful when performed at the proper time and by competent hands.

    The Mother and Her Child | William S. Sadler
  • A keeper of the Zoological Gardens in Philadelphia observed cleft palate in the mouths of lion cubs born in the gardens.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot
  • In a case cited elsewhere, three members of one family had cleft palate; one 17 years old, the other 30, and the third 35.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot

British Dictionary definitions for cleft palate

cleft palate

noun
  1. a congenital crack or fissure in the midline of the hard palate, often associated with a harelip

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for cleft palate

cleft palate

  1. Incomplete closure of the palate during development of an embryo, resulting in a split along part or all of the roof of the mouth.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.