cleft palate

noun

: congenital fissure of the roof of the mouth

Examples of cleft palate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even reconstructive surgery, such as fixing a cleft lip or cleft palate, was questionable. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 10 July 2024

This can help identify conditions such as a cleft palate. —Julie Marks, Verywell Health, 1 July 2024

Others may wind up deformed: researchers working under Hwang have reported on defects that have appeared in cloned dogs, such as puppies born excessively large or with a hypertrophied tongue, a cleft palate, a very small eye, a fatal overdevelopment of musculature, or genital abnormalities. —Alexandra Horowitz, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024

All of the infants have distinctive physical birth defects, such as cleft palate and unusually small heads. —Erika Edwards, NBC News, 5 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

cleft palate

noun

: a split in the roof of the mouth that occurs as a birth defect

Medical Definition

cleft palate

noun

: congenital fissure of the roof of the mouth produced by failure of the two maxillae to unite during embryonic development and often associated with cleft lip

called also palatoschisis