harelip

American

[hair-lip] / ˈhɛərˌlɪp /

noun

Usually Offensive. cleft lip.

harelip British

/ ˈhɛəˌlɪp /

noun

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

"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

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

harelip

Their romance is more awkward than whirlwind as he fears she will dislike him because of his severe harelip and recurring nightmares.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2021

Jane Click’s son, Billy, had a friend, a shy child with a harelip.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018

She can’t see his harelip and understands the way he speaks because she listens intently, so he lets her in, overcoming his shyness.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 1, 2015

Cleft palate and harelip are not fatal and do not prevent reproduction.

From Time Magazine Archive

“What about the rabbi?” asked a woman with a harelip.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023