uvula
Americannoun
-
the small, fleshy, conical body projecting downward from the middle of the soft palate.
-
a similar structure in any organ of the body, especially one at the opening of the bladder.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of uvula
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin ūvula, equivalent to Latin ūva “grape” + -ula -ule
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:
Plus, who among us learned what the uvula was just from this skit?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
“Sometimes the tongue will just fall back against the soft palate and the uvula and tonsils, especially in a person who has a very small airway,” he says.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2021
I don’t have sleep apnea but my dentist tells me I have a larger-than-usual uvula.
From Slate ● Dec. 21, 2020
The lighter had gone beyond the uvula, no problem, but she still felt it at the base of her throat, struggling to get past the point where her collarbones dipped.
From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2019
Maybe that was where the uvula thing was.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
The Ephemerides and Salmuth describe uvulae so defective as to be hardly noticeable.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)
The bears roar and the men thunder back, flapping uvulas and arms to chase off the animals.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2015
The father used to snip off the ends of people's uvulas for fifty guineas, and paint throats with caustic every day for a year at two guineas a time.
From The Doctor's Dilemma by Shaw, Bernard
There is no reason why I should continue: This image of the essential bin is better Than the irritated uvulas of modern poets.
From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by MacKenzie, Compton
Tonsils, vermiform appendices, uvulas, even ovaries are sacrificed because it is the fashion to get them cut out, and because the operations are highly profitable.
From The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors by Shaw, Bernard
From such trifles as uvulas and tonsils they went on to ovaries and appendices until at last no one's inside was safe.
From Heartbreak House by Shaw, Bernard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
